


Moonbeam

by AcidBlossom



Category: Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Characters experience mental/emotional trauma, Closeted Characters, Everybody suffers in this story, F/F, Fix Fic, M/M, Rewrites everything from Snow-Klahoma and beyond, a few OCs - Freeform, character with insomnia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-09 22:23:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 37,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8915296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcidBlossom/pseuds/AcidBlossom
Summary: On the day he was supposed to go to Snow-Klahoma with Howard, Randy ends up saving Julian from being pulled into the Land of Shadows by Evil Julian. What follows is a series of events nobody had expected to occur.





	1. Premonition

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story that I started and posting to Fanfiction.net and Tumblr on September 19th, 2015. It had to go on hiatus this past summer due to technical difficulties. New chapters will be coming starting in January. Til then, here's what exists of it so far. Enjoy.

Things were supposed to be easy today.

Everything always seems like it's going to be easy at first, but then life throws a curveball and everything is suddenly an obstacle course.

At least that's how things usually go for Randy Cunningham, ever since he became the Ninja of Norrisville High.

It was supposed to be a perfectly fine Friday afternoon for him; he and his best friend, Howard Weinerman, would be going to the grand opening of Snow-Klahoma, Norrisville's premiere inside outside artificial snow-park.

No monsters, no robots. Just Howard, a ton of snow, and the Brucest time imaginable.

But then Howard insisted that the NinjaNomicon remain at school. "Whenever we're gonna do something Bruce," he had said, "that book totally wonks our cheese!"

Randy knew Howard was right, but he wasn't completely sure if he should do it. He couldn't do such a thing, at least not without Nomicon's consent. So he ran to an empty bathroom stall and asked the Nomicon outright.

_"_ _A Ninja's choices must be chosen by his own choosing."_

That was Nomicon's reply. And Randy decided that if it was his choice, then he chose to go to Snow-Klahoma without the Nomicon.

And then as soon he exited the stall, he walked in on something he never expected to see.

Julian, a goth boy from Randy's class, was somehow being pulled by the arm into a mirror by behind the surface. And that thing was…Another Julian? It looked just like him, yet it wasn't his reflection. His skin was much paler, his hair and clothes were all white, and his eyes were a chilling icy blue. He had an eager, twisted grin on his face. He looked ghastly…He looked evil…

Julian seemed terrified; he was screaming as he desperately tried to pull away from his evil self's grip.

Ninja instinct kicked in.

Swiftly pulling on the mask, Randy grabbed onto Julian and managed to free him from his evil self's grip. He then jumped onto the sink and drew his sword, holding it out towards the mirror, ready to attack. The white Julian hissed before suddenly fading away.

Normally, Randy would make some kind of pun about this. But right now, he was too focused on the situation at hand. What even was this? He was quite used to the Stanked students and just about anything McFist and Viceroy had up their sleeves. But this? This was something else entirely.

Pulling off the mask and hopping off the sink, Randy looked at the mirror. "What the juice was that?" he muttered.

Then he felt as though someone was staring at him. He looked behind him.

Julian was sitting on the ground, hugging his knees. He was staring straight up at the unmasked Ninja, a look of utter shock on his face. _He saw everything_.

"H'oh, boy…" Randy sighed. He was in a lot of trouble now…He plastered on an "everything's cool" smile. "Hey, Julian…I, uh…I know this is really hard to take in. Yeah, I'm the Ninja. But you kinda have to keep that a secret, alright?"

Julian remained silent. His body was trembling and his sky blue eyes were filled with tears.

Randy's smile instantly faded. He sat down next to the goth. "H-Hey, are you okay?"

"I…I…" Julian stammered, his voice quivering. "I was pulling…"

"I know." Randy said softly. "But it's over now…"

"He…That thing…" Julian seemed to be on the verge of completely breaking down. "He's been following me. I keep seeing him for a split second and then he vanishes. This is the first time he's ever done anything…." Tears began to roll down his pale cheeks. Each stream was dyed black from the goth's eye makeup.

"Wait, how long has this been happening?" Randy asked with concern.

"Since the day after my last birthday…"

Randy flinched in shock. That was almost two months ago; this thing has been around for _that_ long?

Randy didn't know what else he could possibly do at this point beside comfort the poor goth. Not knowing else to do, he pulled him into a hug. Julian sobbed into his chest without restraint. Randy remained still, just letting it happen.

Ten minutes later, Howard busted in. "Cunningham!" he yelled. He ran up to them, looking down at his best friend and the goth with anger in his eyes. "What the juice is happening? What'd the book say?!"

"Forget the book, Howard." Randy said sternly. "There was this… _thing_ in the mirror and it attacked Julian."

"And?"

"I had to help him. He…he _knows_ now."

It didn't take much of a hint for Howard to realize what his friend meant. "Wait, he _knows_? Are you honkin' serious, Cunningham?!"

"I know, I shoobed up big time, but it's just…I had to do _something_."

"Well, what's done is done. Just get Nomicon to mind wipe him like it did with Debbie Kang. Now you can just leave him here to deal with it and we can go already!"

"Howard, I can't do that!" Randy snapped. "Are you crazy? He's totally freaked out; he'll just get Stanked if we leave him here. I need to get him home."

"But _Cunningham_!" Howard whined. "What about Snow-Klahoma?! We've been waiting for this for weeks!"

Randy remained silent. He hated disappointing his best friend. But he couldn't just leave Julian like this; he could transform into a giant spider at any second now. What kind of Ninja would Randy be if he let that happen?

Perhaps they could take Julian to Snow-Klahoma with them? No, Howard wouldn't want to do that, and Julian wasn't exactly in the mood to go to a place like that right now.

_"_ _A Ninja's choices must be chosen by his own choosing."_

It was Randy's choice. Get Julian home ASAP, or leave him vulnerable for Stanking.

"Look, I need to get him home." Randy's tone was firm. "I'll just meet you there, alright?"

Howard sighed. "Fine…" he said huffily. He walked out of the bathroom, pouting.

Randy helped the goth get back up on his feet. "You alright, Julian?"

Julian nodded weakly, still sniveling, his legs shaking like jelly. "I'm sorry, Randall…You don't have to do this…"

"Hey, Howard can wait." Randy said with a smile, zipping up his hoodie to hide the splotch of eyeliner and mascara Julian's tears left on his shirt. "It's the Ninja's duty to protect everyone. And that's what I'm gonna do right now."

~XXX~

Julian tightly held Randy's hand during the entire walk home.

It made Randy a bit uncomfortable, but he knew Julian needed support, so he decided it was best not to object.

His sapphire eyes widened as they approached Julian's house. It was panted light purple and had an ebony roof. Its elegant architecture seemed to be of a European style. It was huge; it wasn't big enough to be a mansion, but it was still of remarkable size. It was the kind of house that said "whoever lives here has a lot of cash."

Randy was about to ask Julian if his family was rich. But then Randy began to wonder, had he ever been to Julian's house before? He couldn't remember. He had known Julian since their days at Marci McFist's daycare, so if he had been there, it must have been a very long time ago. Julian had gone to Randy's house a few times over the years for school projects and stuff like that; did it not happen vice versa? After some more thinking, Randy decided he shouldn't dwell on this subject right now.

"Hey, listen." Randy said as they got closer to the house. "I know it's hard to keep it a secret; not even my parents can know, and Howard found out pretty much by accident. But you can't tell _anyone_ that I'm the Ninja, alright?"

Julian nodded slowly. He looked like he was going to cry again.

"If your parents ask about anything," Randy instructed him, "just say you were…attacked by some guy on your way home or something. And that I helped you, I guess. Don't mention anything about mirrors or the Ninja or anything like that."

Julian nodded again. "I understand. Again, I'm sorry about all of this."

"You don't have to be sorry. It's my job to protect you, remember?" Randy smiled encouragingly. Weakly, Julian smiled back.

A few seconds later, they stopped in front of Julian's house. They faced each other, their hands still connected.

"I'll see you on Monday, okay?" Randy said.

Julian nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Randall." He reluctantly let go of Randy's hand, and the two boys parted ways.

As Randy walked away from the house, his mind became clouded. The fact that another person now knew that he was the Ninja was bad enough. But now he had that white clad clone of Julian behind the mirror's surface to worry about. Who was he? What was he planning on doing?

One thing was certain.

If that evil Julian succeeded at what he was trying to do, something bad was definitely going to happen. And there was no telling if, or when, he would try to strike again.

With all of that on his mind, Randy decided he didn't feel like going to Snow-Klahoma today after all.


	2. Reaction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath.

Randy was surprised to see that his parents were home.

Both of his parents taught at Norrisville Middle School; his mother taught math while his father taught music. Since they worked at a school, they were out of the house during the same hours as Randy. In fact, they were usually gone for even longer, since they had to stay to tutor students or take part in faculty meetings.

Right now his parents were sitting on the couch, watching television. His mother had her purple hair in a pristine bun, her outfit clean and prim. His father, on the other hand, had his shoulder length mahogany hair in a mess, his attire consisting of whatever he could find this morning that seemed clean. Based on the audio coming from the TV, it seemed that they were watching a Christmas movie. And from the pained expression on his father's face, he could tell that watching it was his mother's idea. Even though it was the middle of January, some channels were still airing Christmas movies during the day. Luckily, they were only the sappy, overly religious ones with cheesy, phoned in love stories, so Randy wasn't missing out on much during school hours.

"Hey there, bud." his father greeted him with a grin, enthusiastically muting the TV. "We thought you were coming home later."

"What happened to going to Snow-Klahoma with Howard?" his mother asked with some concern in her voice.

Randy shrugged. "Decided not to go."

"Well, they let us out early since half the town is gonna be there." his father chuckled. "Hey, maybe you and I can go tomorrow. I heard that Snow Way Out thing was pretty Bruce."

"No thanks, Dad." Randy said. Even if he was in a better mood, he would've said no. His parents were quite young; they got married and had him right after they graduated from high school, not starting college until he was already in kindergarten. But just because they were young certainly didn't mean that they were cool. A lot of the kids Randy knew from middle school claimed that his dad was the cheese, but he disagreed. It was pretty Bruce to have a teacher who acted like he was your friend. Having a dad who acted like that, however, was just embarrassing.

"Well, do you wanna watch a movie with us?" his father asked. " _Annihilator_? _Mesozoic Park_? Anything that isn't this?"

"Oh, stop." his mother protested. "This is a good movie."

"Yeah, if you're a shoob."

"Caleb!"

"No thanks." Randy muttered, walking to the staircase. His parents watched him amble up the stairs in silence.

Once he was in his room, he lay down in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, attempting to process everything.

~XXX~

Julian was glad that it was Friday.

Had this happened yesterday, he would have had to go straight to Moonbeam. He didn't want to look like a complete emotional mess in front of the customers; that would've been mortifying.

He washed off what little remained of his makeup and sat down on the living room couch, waiting for his parents to get home from Moonbeam. They usually came home at around six or six thirty, since Moonbeam always closed at five thirty.

Julian sat in complete silence, trying to calm himself down. He had so much on his mind. Would that white version of him attack again? Would he even see it again? Should he do what Randy told him to do and lie to his parents?

They arrived home at six fifteen, the sudden opening of the door making Julian flinch.

"Hey, Jules." his father said, helping his wife take off her black faux mink coat. "How was school today?"

"It was good." Julian replied, faking a cheerful smile. "How was Moonbeam?"

"It was a bit slow today, but it'll be better tomorrow since you'll be there." His father grinned. "After all, you're our good luck charm."

Julian giggled a little. His parents always called him their good luck charm since Moonbeam didn't take off until around the time he was born. Somehow, he never got tired of hearing it.

The three of them walked to their spacious kitchen. Julian and his mother sat on the stools set by the black granite island while his father took inventory of the ingredients they had available for dinner.

"Julian, is something wrong?" his mother asked, a look of worry on her face. "You seem a bit troubled."

"Oh, I'm fine, Mother." Julian lied. "Just fine."

"Are you certain?" she asked in an extremely worried tone, taking her son's hands and getting closer to him. There was practically no breathing room between them. "Did something happen at school?"

Julian began to feel nervous. "I…"

"Now, Maggie," his father said with gentility, "give him some space. You know how teenagers are. Our Jules isn't little anymore."

His mother sighed and backed off, though she didn't let go of her son's left hand. Julian felt a twinge of guilt. Yes, something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong. But could he really say it?

"So, what does everyone want for supper?" his father asked, tying on his apron. "I'm thinking pasta."

"That sounds wonderful, Darius." his mother said with a smile. "Do you agree, Julian?"

Julian just nodded. He was too nervous to speak.

Could he really tell his parents about what happened, even in the form of the lie Randy had instructed him to tell?

No.

He knew his parents well enough to know that doing such a thing was completely out of the question. He knew they would go out of their way to track down the one who attacked him and put him behind bars, and their efforts would be in vain. And above all else, he just didn't have the heart to lie to them. It was better if they just didn't know at all.

The same went for his friends. For the sake of keeping Randy's identity a secret, he wouldn't tell them anything either. It was too risky; Theresa was quite close to Debbie Kang, who had managed to figure the truth out her own, but it seemed Randy and Howard did _something_ to convince everyone that she had been wrong. Just mentioning Randy's involvement would make her suspicious if Theresa ended up telling her about this incident. And even without that factor, Julian just didn't want to make his beloved Klüb worry.

He wasn't proud of having to do this. He and Theresa told each other everything, even their most embarrassing secrets; it was going to seriously hurt to keep such a secret from her. It would hurt just as badly to not tell his parents; yes, there had been a few things he had kept from them, such as the near death experience of retrieving the Golden Doctor's Note, but he was otherwise quite honest with them. This just had to one of times in which he wasn't.

It would be best if he just forgot about it. As long as his other self didn't show up again, it would be as though none of it even happened.

Yes, it never happened. He would put this behind him.

Everything was fine. Everything was normal.

~XXX~

To say that Howard was pissed about getting stood up was an understatement.

In all honesty, Randy probably should've texted him to let him know that he wasn't coming. But Randy had been so emotionally drained from the Julian stuff, he completely forgot about Howard.

He received a grim reminder when he received a text from Howard early that evening, comprising only of the word "shoob" in all caps and repeated at least a hundred times.

"srry, bud. i'll make it up 2 u." Randy texted, hoping to appease him.

"whatever, shoob" Howard replied.

Randy sighed. He decided that Howard was the least of his concerns right now. All he could think about was Julian.

"Randy! Dinner!" he heard his mother call from downstairs.

Randy sighed, climbing down from his bunk. He wished his parents would let him eat in his room, but since they were usually gone all day, they always used this time as an opportunity to spend just a little bit of time with their son.

When Randy arrived, his father was already sitting at the dining room table while his mother prepared the plates. On the red granite island of the kitchen were some bags of Chinese takeout. Randy groaned, " _Again_ , Mom?" They ate this so often, it wasn't even funny anymore.

"I'm sorry, sweetie." his mother said, looking a little embarrassed. She was dressed a bit more casually now and she had taken off her makeup, though her hair was still in a neat bun. "I was going to cook tonight, but…Well, you know…"

"She forgot to thaw out the meat again." his father said with a playful smirk, his wife promptly swatting his arm.

"Like you've ever tried to cook before." she retaliated. Her husband just laughed.

Randy was usually annoyed by his parents' banter, but tonight he just didn't care. He took his seat at the table and didn't bat an eye when his mother set his plate down in front of him.

"What's the matter, bud?" his father asked. "It looks like something's bugging you."

"Is Howard upset that you skipped Snow-Klahoma?" his mother asked.

"Yeah." Randy replied. "But that's not it. Something else happened today."

"What happened?" his father asked, his words barely coherent since his mouth was full of lo mein.

"Caleb, I swear to God." his mother groaned, beginning to serve herself. "So what happened, sweetie?"

"This kid in my class, Julian…" Randy began. "He got…attacked by some guy on his way home. So I stepped in and kicked the shoob's butt."

"Wait, _what_?!" his mother exclaimed, nearly dropping her plate.

"Holy crap, Randy!" his father shouted, beaming. "That's awesome!" He put up his hand for a high-five. Randy left him hanging.

"Caleb, keep your voice down!" Randy's mother snapped. "And don't cuss in front of our son!"

"Oh come on, Allie! Crap isn't even a cuss!"

"Anyway, Randy," his mother said a bit more calmly now, ignoring her husband. "You didn't have to beat anyone up. You could've just called the cops."

No, he couldn't have. You can't call the cops on some creepy guy behind a mirror's surface.

"But…" Randy said softly, "it all happened so fast and I had to do _something_."

"Cut the kid some slack." his father said in a firm tone. "He really helped somebody."

Randy's mother sighed. "Which one was Julian again?" she asked, sitting down at the table and setting her plate down. "The one who dresses as a clown?"

"No, that's Juggo." Randy corrected her. "Julian's the goth."

"The androgynous one, Allie." his father added.

"Oh, I remember now." his mother said. "I'm sorry, it's just been so long since someone that wasn't Howard came over." Her tone was almost sarcastic, making her husband chuckle.

Randy rolled his eyes; he knew very well that his mother wasn't exactly fond of Howard, but he never cared. He took a bite of his fried rice, making a mental note to look up the definition of "androgynous" after the meal.

"So is this kid alright?" his father asked.

"Yeah, he's fine. Just a little shaken up." Randy knew that what he just said was probably a contender for understatement of the year, but he didn't care as long his parents believed him.

"Well, did you at least call the cops _after_ you…did what you did?" his mother asked.

"He said his parents would take care of that." Randy lied. Or at least he hoped he was lying; if Julian's parents were actually going to call someone, things would definitely not end well.

"Well, you did something good today." his father said, smiling with pride. "And we're proud of you. Aren't we, hon?"

His mother exhaled heavily, but then she smiled sweetly. "Yes, we are."

Randy smiled a little bit, knowing his parents were proud of him. But inside, he was still feeling like crap. He worried about Julian, and he hoped Howard would forgive him. Today hadn't turned out as planned at all...

All he could do now was pray that everything would be better tomorrow.


	3. Progression

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Randy and Julian chill for a bit as everything sinks in.

Julian awoke in a cold sweat.

His mind had been overtaken by a nightmare. He dreamt that he was alone at school, without Randy there to protect him. His other self returned, and it attacked again. Before Julian was successfully pulled into the mirror, he managed to wake up.

He forced himself not to scream in terror.

He didn't want to wake his parents. He didn't want them to know anything.

What was on the other side of the mirror? What sort of Hell was awaiting him?

He didn't want to know. He didn't want to think about it.

Luckily, Julian managed to get _some_ sleep. That was good, since he had to work that day. And since it was the weekend, he had to work two days back to back. He's been living like this ever since he had turned fourteen, when he was old enough to start working part-time. He didn't really mind not really having a weekend to relax; it's his parents' business, and he was obligated to help them. And Theresa would be with him, which always made everything better.

Julian always showered at night, so all he needed to do was fix his hair and apply his makeup. Since it was a food-oriented environment, he had his hair tied back. His makeup, however, was how he usually did it for school. What he wore didn't necessarily matter for the most part, as long as he wore the uniform shirt. It was a midnight blue t-shirt that had "Moonbeam" in cursive, light blue letters and an image of white moonbeam flower below it. Once he was ready, he ambled down the stairs and met his mother at the dining room table. On the table was breakfast made by his father, who was already at Moonbeam, preparing the food and getting everything ready.

Moonbeam opened at ten on the weekends, and it was about eight thirty when breakfast ended. Afterwards, they got in the car and went to pick up Theresa. Once arriving at Moonbeam, Julian and Theresa went to Darius' side while Margaret went to her own side.

Darius' side of Moonbeam was a darling little café. It wasn't nearly as popular as other local eateries such as McFlubbuster's or Charlie Clucker's, but it was a fairly well received place either way. Margaret's side was an art studio. Aside from doing her own work there, she taught art classes and allowed patrons to use the space as well.

Julian and Theresa spent the remaining time helping Darius finish setting up. As they did this, the other employees arrived one by one. By around nine fifty, they were all ready for when customers began arriving a few minutes after ten.

Julian lost himself in his work, taking orders from customers and serving them their food. He was able to let his mind go elsewhere, somewhere that wasn't yesterday's events. And he couldn't have been gladder for that.

~XXX~

It was about noon when Randy knocked on the door of the Weinerman home.

Howard's mother opened the door and smiled. "Oh, Randy! What a pleasant surprise. It's great to see you."

"You too, Sylvia." Randy replied with a smile. "Is Howard home?"

"Yes." Sylvia nodded as Randy entered the house. "He's in his room. He's been so moody since yesterday."

"Can I go see him?"

"Sure, if he lets you."

Randy went down to the basement. He knocked on the door. "Howard, it's me." he called.

"Honk off, shoob." Howard called back from the other side of the door.

"Howard, I'm sorry." Randy pleaded. "I know I shoobed up, but…C'mon, I'm ready to go today. I'll stick by you all day and we'll have the Brucest time in all of Brucedom. _And_ I'm not taking the Nomicon. C'mon, whaddya say?"

There was a long pause of silence after that. After about a minute and a half, the door slowly opened. Howard stood there with an annoyed frown on his face. "Fine…" he sighed.

"Schweet!" Randy cheered, throwing his arms up.

"You're buying the food when we get there." Howard grumbled.

~XXX~

Things had gone quite well at Moonbeam; just as Darius predicted before, there had significantly more customers than the day before, and it was a good day overall.

But during the night, Julian was hit by a nightmare once again. It was the same dream as the one from the previous night, but it seemed that whenever he woke up in the middle of the night, it would repeat over and over again like a broken record.

Julian only got about two hours of sleep, if not less than that, but it didn't matter to him. He was tired, but he wasn't going to let it hold him back today. Once again, he had to go to Moonbeam, and he repeated the same routine as yesterday.

But once breakfast was finished, his mother suddenly asked, "Julian, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Mother." Julian assured her. "I just had some trouble sleeping. That's all."

"You seemed a bit more tired than usual yesterday. Is something the matter?" The look in her amber eyes was almost heartbreaking. Her maternal instincts were telling her something was wrong; she just didn't know what it was.

"Well..." Julian decided to let just a fragment of the truth out. "I have been having…nightmares, of sorts."

"I knew it." His mother said, slamming her hands down on the table. She then rose from her seat. "I just knew there was something wrong. I'm calling your father."

Julian began to protest, "Mother, don't-" but it was too late. She was already in the next room, her cellphone held in her hand.

He propped his elbows on the table and put his face in his hands, exhaling heavily. It had barely been two days and his parents were already suspecting that something had happened. He began to worry that he wouldn't be able to hide this from them for much longer. He decided he'd keep it up for as long as he could, but he wasn't sure how long he could prolong the inevitable.

After a couple of minutes, his mother returned. "Your father noticed your jadedness yesterday as well. We've come to an agreement; you will take today off."

Julian's eyes widened. From the day he started working, not once had he taken a day off. He practically grew up in Moonbeam; he couldn't imagine being away from it longer than he needed to. He trusted Theresa and, to a lesser extent, the other employees to take care of it, but it still didn't feel right to not be there on a day he was supposed to be.

"W-What?" he gasped. "Are…Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." She walked up to him cupped his face in her hands. "Darling, we know Moonbeam means as much to you as it does to us, and we are grateful for that. But we don't want that to get in the way of your well-being. This is what's best for you. We're only doing this because we love you. Do you understand?"

Julian knew trying to argue was futile. Skirmishes with his parents were rare, but when they happened, they always came out on top. Accepting defeat, he nodded.

His mother smiled. "Thank you for understanding." She pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. She then walked upstairs to finish getting ready to leave.

Julian folded his arms on the table and rested his head on top of them. He was tired, and these nightmares were getting a bit out of control. He had to accept how things turned out today. He just hoped he didn't let this go any further than it already has.

He let out a yawn, and his eyelids began to feel heavy. He could feel sleep begin to take over.

Perhaps just one day off wouldn't be too bad…


	4. Frustration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julian goes from bad to worse.

Julian thought he had been through the worst of it already.

It was Monday; it had now been three days since the incident.

And yet that white demon still haunted his dreams.

This time, Randy had been there to try to save him, but he was too late. Julian had woken before he was able to see what was on the other side of the mirror, however.

"Did you sleep well, Julian?" his mother asked during breakfast. The tone in her voice indicated that she already knew the answer.

Julian decided to give her that answer. "No, Mother. I've still been having nightmares."

"You're still having them?" his father asked. "Is everything okay?"

"It will be fine." Julian assured him. "I just need to focus on other things for awhile."

His mother bit on her bottom lip in hesitation before saying, "Julian, I don't think you should go to school today. You need rest."

Julian's eyes widened. Skip school over this?

Luckily, his father seemed to see how far-fetched this proposal was. "I don't think we should so that, Maggie. I mean, I see where you're coming from. If this gets any worse, I suppose we can do that. But right now...that's a bit of an overreaction, don't you think?"

"Mother, I can go to school." Julian assured her. "I promise."

She sighed. "Fine then. If you both insist..."

~XXX~

Randy couldn't have been in a better mood.

He had the Brucest time at Snow-Klahoma with Howard. It was almost as Friday didn't even happen; they just enjoyed themselves. Randy especially had a great time, knowing that his friend had forgiven him. And the best part was that he seldom thought about what happened with Julian; he didn't forget, but he didn't let it get in the way of having fun either.

Sunday had gone by without issue, aside from a minor fight against one of Viceroy's robots. And now, he was ready to take on this school week head-on.

Or at least he thought he was.

Things were relatively normal when Monday came along, until it was time for the last class of the day- PE.

The second semester was when Coach Green began having his students run on the school's track. All of the boys were taking their places when Randy noticed Julian talking to the coach, who seemed rather pleased by whatever was being said. He also noticed that Julian was without his hat, a rather unusual sight. But Randy was even more shocked to see the goth take his place next to him.

"Hey." Randy said to get the goth's attention.

Julian looked at him, smiling warmly. "Hello, Randall."

"Where's your hat?"

"In the locker room. I don't want to risk it getting damaged out here."

"So...You're gonna be running with us?"

Julian nodded.

"But what about the Golden Doctor's Note?" Randy asked.

"It's on standby." Julian replied, still smiling. "But I put it aside for now. I figured some activity could help me get my mind off of what happened the other day."

"Has it been...bugging you?"

"A bit. But it will be okay."

Randy had a feeling that the goth wasn't being totally honest. "Hey, you know you can talk to me if-" He was interrupted by the blow of Coach Green's whistle.

"I'll be fine." Julian whispered just before they began running.

Julian had never exactly been an athletic person, let alone a good runner. He was rather thin, but that was mostly due to his genes and good metabolism. His long legs were at least a bit of an advantage. He was faster than Howard and Bucky, but he never managed to keep up with Randy, who was just behind Bash and his gang. Julian decided to keep his focus on catching up with Randy; maybe he could impress him...

He was completely out of breath and drained of energy when he finished. But he didn't care; this discomfort was nothing in comparison to what he had been going through during the past few nights. Those horrible thoughts didn't even cross his mind.

Randy could tell Julian really pushed himself to do a good job, or perhaps he was pushing to get his mind off of what happened. He decided that maybe some words of encouragement would be able to help him a little. It was the least he could do.

"Hey." he said. "You were great out there, dude."

Julian's eyes lit up when he heard those words. "Th-Thank you, Randall..." He smiled brightly, his cheeks turning pink. Randy smiled back at him uncomfortably.

Julian participated in the rest of the class. It was lucky that Coach Green didn't have anything particularly dangerous in his arsenal that day.

Since he had no use for them for an entire semester, Julian wasn't used to the school's showers at all. He was tempted to just shower as soon as he got home, but he couldn't bare tolerate the sweat any longer. That didn't make the experience any easier, however. He was used to his spacious, spotlessly clean shower he had in his private bathroom at home, the total antithesis of what was at the school. The soap and shampoo they had was of an insultingly cheap brand; Julian was repulsed when he saw them, but he had no choice but to use them. And once he was done and had gotten redressed, he realized that he didn't have any of his hair supplies with him, besides a comb. He didn't mind too much though; he was going straight home that day, so it didn't really matter how he looked.

Randy couldn't help but stare at the goth, watching him comb out his hair. He was starting to worry about him a little. Ever since he got the Golden Doctor's Note, Julian had basically quit gym. If he was willing to return to it just to get his mind off of what had happened on Friday, this was something a lot bigger than originally thought.

Howard could tell his what Randy was thinking. He slugged him in the arm. "Cunningham, stop worrying about him. He's not your problem."

~XXX~

Tuesday was no better than Monday.

Another night of nightmares. More questions from the parents.

Julian did his best to keep his mind off of it all. He had everything under control, although it was costing him quite a bit of sleep. Hopefully he'd be able to have a night without bad dreams soon enough.

During gym, it was a little bit harder to keep his mind focused on the activities as opposed to his nightmares. Randy couldn't help but notice him losing focus.

The shower was a bit of a better experience, since he brought his own shampoo and soap this time. Afterwards, he got dressed and began combing out his hair. He was still thinking about what happened on Friday, as well as his previous nightmares.

Everything would be alright. It was a good thing it was Tuesday; he had work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Once he got to Moonbeam, he could just focus on work and...

He gasped in horror. "Oh my God!" He should've been ready for work by now. Why did even change back into his regular clothes at all? He made a beeline for his things, searching for his work clothes.

Randy and Howard stared at the panicking goth, baffled.

"You alright, Julian?" Randy asked.

Julian didn't respond. He frantically dug through his school bag. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God..." He soon pulled out a smaller bag and quickly ran back into a changing stall.

Howard scoffed. "What's his problem?"

Less than a minute later, Julian dashed out in a different outfit, though he was gone before the other two boys could get a good look at it. Curious, Randy followed him, with Howard tailing behind him.

Theresa was standing by the front door of the school. Her outfit was now very similar to Julian's, who rushed up to her.

"Theresa, I'm so sorry." he panted. "I just got out of Gym and I lost track of time and..."

Theresa was smiling warmly. "Julie, it's okay. We have plenty of time."

"What's going on?" Randy asked, arriving with Howard just then.

"Oh, we're just a teeny bit behind on getting to work." Theresa answered.

"Oh. Where do you guys work?"

"At Moonbeam."

Both Randy and Howard stared at the goth and baton twirler blankly. ' _What the juice is Moonbeam?_ ' they both thought.

"Oh, you've never heard of Moonbeam?" Theresa asked with surprised eyes, understanding the look in their eyes.

The two boys shook their heads.

Theresa grinned. "It's this adorable place. Julian's parents own it and-"

Julian grabbed her hand. "We need to leave." The two of them dashed out the doorway.

Randy was really surprised. He didn't know that Julian had a job, let alone the fact that his parents were business owners. Had he even _met_ Julian's parents before?

"Did you know about this?" he asked Howard as they began walking out as well.

"Nope." Howard replied bluntly. "And I don't care."

"Doesn't it bug you though? Like, we've known Julian for a _long_ time and we pretty much know nothing about him."

"Cunningham, we already know everything we need to know about Julian: he's a creepy shoob." Randy was about to counter, but Howard just continued. "Just don't think about this anymore. You're losing your cheese over nothing. Just let Julian do his own thing and move on with your life."

~XXX~

"It just completely slipped my mind." Julian sighed as he and Theresa walked to work together. "I feel like a complete fool."

"It's okay, Julie." Theresa assured him. "We all make mistakes."

For the rest of the walk, they talked about what had happened at school that day. It was just a casual walk, and they enjoyed each other's company.

"Hey, are you sure you're okay?" Theresa suddenly asked as they approached Moonbeam, a look of worry on her face.

Julian looked at her straight in the eye. "Of course I am."

"You a bit seem out of it. Juggo and Dave said they noticed too. Have you been getting enough sleep?"

"Not exactly. But everything will be fine."

Theresa sighed. "If you say so."

They entered the building and headed to the employee lounge to drop off their school bags. It was a considerably small room for the employees to leave their things and to spend their breaks at. But just before they were about to leave the room to get to work, Darius abruptly entered.

Julian was surprised to see him in here. His father very rarely entered the employee lounge; he spent every second of his time at Moonbeam in the kitchen.

"Jules, are you absolutely sure you're up to working today?" he asked with clear worry in his voice.

Julian nodded with determination. "Yes Father, I am. I promise."

Sure enough, Julian managed to stay on task. He thrived in Moonbeam. It was his comfort zone, his sanctuary.

If anything was going to help keep his mind off his other self, it would be being in this place.

~XXX~

On Wednesday, Julian struggled to stay awake in a few of his classes. He never really fell asleep; he would just doze off for half a second. A few of his teachers asked him if he was okay. Juggo, Dave, and Theresa would ask throughout the day as well. To all of them, Julian insisted that he was just fine.

Even so, he knew that his lack of sleep was starting to take its toll. One would not have to look too closely to notice the bags under his eyes. His makeup didn't do a very good job of hiding them.

Randy didn't notice this, however. He decided to take Howard's advice and not think about Julian, at least just for now. The goth could take care of himself. And Randy had plenty of Ninja duties to help keep his mind off of the situation in the meantime.

But Der Monster Klüb, especially Theresa, grew increasingly more worried about their friend. And nobody had become more worried than Julian's parents.

On Thursday, yet again, Julian almost fell asleep a few times. He at least managed to get dressed for work on time. But before he could leave with Theresa, he was unexpectedly called to Principal Slimovitz's office.

With Theresa waiting just outside the door, Julian timidly entered the office. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

The principal smiled. "Hello, Julian. I know you have work today so I'll keep this short." He then suddenly took on a more serious expression and tone. "All of your teachers have told me you've seemed sleep deprived. And looking at you now, I see what they mean. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, Principal Slimovitz." Julian said sternly. "I'm perfectly fine. I admit I've been losing sleep, but this will be resolved as soon as possible."

Principal Slimovitz raised a brow. He let the boy go then, but he still had some suspicions.

~XXX~

It was a disaster.

Julian was so confident that, no matter what circumstance, he would be fine at Moonbeam. His coworkers, friends, and parents were just as sure of that. He could carry out any task placed in front of him without fail.

He never messed up before; not even once.

But today, he mixed up orders and tables a good four or five times. It had been utterly mortifying. Luckily, the customers were quite patient with him; they must have noticed how tired he seemed. But that didn't make him feel any better.

Theresa was really worried then. When Julian was at work, nothing got in his way. What was going on today?

The other employees were just as surprised. Julian essentially represented the standards Moonbeam had for its employees. To see him suddenly make so many mistakes was rather shocking.

The breaking point was when Julian brought Table 2's order to Table 12. He went to go correct this error, but his father and Theresa stopped him. Theresa looked extremely worried. His father, on the other hand, looked utterly disappointed in his son. It was the look nobody would want to see on their parents' face.

"Give that to Theresa." he said sternly. "Go to the employee lounge. You're staying there until we close for the day."

Julian's eyes widened. "But-"

" _Now_ , Julian." It sounded like his father was holding back on a lot of emotion, which made sense since they were in front of all of the customers.

Julian looked down. "Yes, sir." He rushed to the employee lounge.

He had let his parents down that day. He let everyone down; he let Moonbeam down. The guilt was almost too much to handle.

This was getting out of hand. He needed to do something about it as soon as possible.

He got his homework done in the meantime, which was a load off his shoulders. But he didn't feel any better about that day's events.

At around five thirty, when Moonbeam closed, Theresa entered the lounge to get ready to leave. She hugged Julian tightly before she left.

"Get some rest, okay?" she whispered in his ear as she pulled away.

Julian made no promises.

~XXX~

The ride home was solemn, as was dinner that night.

Usually Julian and his parents would converse about the day during both of those times. They were enjoyable times, since they were usually busy all day. But today, there was only silence.

Right after the meal, Margaret excused herself to her "office," which was essentially a miniature version of her side of Moonbeam. She gave her son a worried look before departing.

The father and son moved to the living room. Julian was sitting on the couch, staring down at the carpeting. Darius was standing before him, disappointment and worry still in his sky blue eyes.

"Jules, what exactly led to what happened at Moonbeam today?" he asked. "Is it your lack of sleep or these dreams you've been having?"

"A little of both, I suppose." Julian replied softly.

"Your mother and I decided that you're not going to school tomorrow; you'll stay here and rest up. _And_ you will be taking time off until you are well enough to work again. I know you won't want to do this, but it's for the best. We don't want you go get any worse. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

Later that night, he didn't fall asleep. He couldn't fall asleep.

Everything was falling apart.

He was supposed to forget about what happened. He was supposed to move on with his life. Everything was supposed to go back to normal. But it seemed like the complete opposite was happening now. Everyone was suspecting that something was wrong. And no matter how many times they asked, the goth would not tell them anything. For Randy's sake...

Julian wasn't going to accept any of these changes. He wasn't going to let what happened with his white clad clone affect his life any more than it already had.

He was going to Moonbeam on Saturday.

And he was definitely going to school tomorrow.


	5. Running

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julian's secretiveness and lack of sleep catch up to him.

Julian didn't get any sleep.

It was the most terrifying nightmare yet. This time, his white clad self succeeded in pulling him into the mirror. Julian found himself imprisoned in a world of pure darkness. Through a puddle of clear liquid on the ground, he could see what his other self was up to. He went to Moonbeam, which suddenly burst into flames just seconds afterward. In the wreckage, the white demon stood completely unharmed. In each hand he held the severed, bloodied heads of Darius and Margaret. It was then that Randy, as the Ninja, appeared in a haze of red smoke and prepared to fight back. The white demon charged at him, and that was the waking moment.

Julian spent most of the night crying softly into his pillow.

He got out of bed at four in the morning. It was the earliest possible hour; his parents usually got up at around five. Julian usually got up at around the same time, since he needed extra time in the morning to get his hair and makeup done. But today, he simply combed out his hair and didn't even bother with his makeup. Not only was it the only possible way he could get out of the house without his parents noticing, but he also just didn't care what he looked like, which was usually a priority to him. He didn't even put on his hat.

Breakfast was usually an extravagant meal, but today he just grabbed a granola bar. They were only there for when his parents were in a rush in the mornings; they never let their son leave the house without a full, proper breakfast. Julian's stomach was too used to crepes and poached eggs to register the granola bar as filling, but he didn't care. Once he finished the small bit of nourishment, he grabbed his things and headed out the door.

The real problem was that he now had almost three hours to kill. There was only one place he could possibly go to wait it out- Theresa's house. Theresa was the one person in the world he trusted more than his own parents. He knew he could go to her in troubled times like these. He arrived at her front yard and sat on her porch in solitary silence. He tried to fall asleep there, but his other self's face greeted him every time he closed his eyes for more than a second.

His phone buzzed at around six ten. He wasn't surprised to see a text from his father, simply reading "WHERE ARE YOU"

"At Theresa's. I'm going to school." he texted back. He received a few more texts and a couple calls, all of which he ignored. Eventually, he texted back "I'm fine" to appease his parents, though he knew that by this point, they wouldn't believe him.

About twenty minutes later, Theresa walked out of her house. She flinched when she saw her friend on her porch.

"Julie, what're you doing here?" she exclaimed. "Do your parents know you're here?"

"They do now." Julian replied in a soft, almost monotone voice. "They're worried about me over nothing. They say I'm not well enough to go to school, but I disagree."

"But have you gotten any sleep? Like, _at all_?"

"No. But I can manage."

Before Theresa could respond, Julian had already got up began walking away from the porch. Not knowing what else to do, she just followed him. They walked together in pure silence. The baton twirler occasionally glanced at her goth friend, making sure he was alright.

"Can I be honest with you?" Theresa asked, as they approached the school's campus.

Julian nodded. "You may."

"You look terrible."

"I know."

~XXX~

Randy gaped when he saw Julian in the hallway.

He was practically a zombie. The darkness around his eyes was not eyeliner today; there were natural, dark circles. There were heavy bags beneath his eyes as well. He seemed even paler than usual and his blue eyes were bloodshot. His expression was an utter void of all readability, aside from pure exhaustion. He walked closely next to Theresa, who had a a worried look on her face.

Randy knew this couldn't have happened overnight. He must have been ignoring the gradual change over the coarse of the week. But now, it was undeniable that Julian looked like trash; a very sleep deprived piece of trash.

Randy lightly nudged Howard with his elbow. "Dude, I think this whole mirror thing really wonked up Julian." he said to with a worried tone.

Howard scoffed. "How do you know that?"

Randy glared at his friend. "C'mon, man. Remember on Monday he said he was trying to get his mind off of it?"

"Yeah. And?"

"Well, it _was_ pretty scary. And if I hadn't shown up, Julian would be…somewhere else right now."

"Wow, you don't even know _where_?" Howard laughed.

"What, was I supposed to _ask_ it?" Randy exclaimed. "I don't even know what it was. I'm not even sure if Nomicon knows."

"Of course it doesn't know. It's the instruction manual of how to be a shoob."

"Howard, this is serious!"

"Cunningham, you've known me long enough to know that I don't do serious."

~XXX~

It was about one fifty-five when Margaret entered her husband's side of Moonbeam.

Yes, she had a class to teach that afternoon, but she cancelled it; she knew she wouldn't be able to focus on it. She could barely concentrate during the morning class, and she got none of her personal work done. All she could think about was her precious son. She couldn't believe he sneaked out; it was so unlike him to disobey her and her husband, let alone do something so drastic. It was also a bit unusual for any teenager to sneak out just to go to school. One would normally suspect that it would be a cover for something else. But Darius called the principal earlier in the day, and it was confirmed that Julian was definitely at school. Margaret didn't understand any of this. Something was definitely wrong, and she needed to get to the bottom of it immediately.

The cashier directed her to where her husband usually was- the kitchen.

Darius' eyes widened when he saw his wife. "Maggie, what're you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you." Margaret replied, her voice soft and trembling.

Darius could already tell that this was something important. He tasked one of his employees to look after things in the kitchen, and the couple rushed to the employee lounge for some privacy.

"I'm so worried about Julian." Margaret began. "I know you called the principal this morning. Did he say anything about whether or not he was alright?"

Darius shook his head. "He just said that he was marked present." He began fiddling with his hands. "Oh, what has been happening with Jules? He's never shown signs of insomnia before, and he never messed up during work either. And it's definitely not like him to disobey us…"

"We're here for another three hours or so…" Margaret said. "Should we call the school again? Ask them to check on him?"

Darius sighed. "Well, it seems like the only way we can make sure…"

~XXX~

There was just one more class left in the day. For Randy, Howard, and Julian, that meant PE.

Out on the track, Randy eyed Julian carefully. The goth looked like he was going to drop at any given moment. Even Coach Green, who usually had little regard for his students' safety, seemed a bit concerned. He asked Julian if he was really up to running the laps today, and he said he was. Randy listened in on their short conversation, and now he was even more worried about his gothic classmate.

"Cunningham, staring at him isn't going to magically make him better." Howard said sarcastically.

"Shut up." Randy muttered under his breath. Howard was seriously trying his patience today…

It had been less than a minute after the class began their laps when Principal Slimovitz ran up to Coach Green.

"Is Julian out there running?" the principal asked.

Coach Green nodded. "He doesn't look well at all, but he insisted."

"His parents just called; they're very worried about him. They said they don't get out of work for another few hours, so they wanted me to check on him in the meantime."

"Well, once he finishes the first lap, I'll stop him so he can talk to you."

As this was happening, Julian was almost halfway through his lap. He could barely keep his eyes opened. His vision was beginning to blur and his steps started to teeter, but he forced himself to continue.

Throughout all of his classes, he fought against sleep. The only thing keeping him awake was the fear of having another nightmare. The only bit of sleep he got was during science, when he had dozed off for about thirty seconds. Mrs. Driscoll was usually quite strict about kids falling asleep in her class, but she must have noticed Julian's condition and decided to let this one slide.

Lunch was the hardest part of the day. Der Monster Klüb ate in silence; no game, no conversation, just a meal and an utterly melancholic atmosphere. The clown, accordion player, and baton twirler made occasional glances at the goth with fear and worry in their eyes. Theresa looked like she was about to burst into tears at any moment. Julian did his best to ignore all of it.

He made it to the final class of the day. He made it through an absolutely dreadful week.

He made it this far. Now he had to finish strong.

He had to push on. Tonight, he'd get a good night's sleep. He didn't care what it was going to take; it was going to happen. He could dream that his other self was tearing Randy apart limb from limb, but not even that was going to stop him.

Everything would go back to normal. No, everything _was_ normal. Tomorrow, he would go to Moonbeam and make his parents proud. Maybe he could even invite the Klüb over to his house after work and they could watch some movies together. Yes, that would be nice...

That white clad shoob wasn't going to dictate his life anymore.

_But he'll still be there._

No, he won't. As long as Julian kept him out of his thoughts…

_He'll still be there._

Yes.

Yes, he would. And there was nothing Julian could do about it but run away.

_Keep running. Keep running._

_He's watching. He's always watching from behind the mirror's surface._

_He's not going to stop until he gets his way._

_Keep running. Keep running. Keep running…_

Randy stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a body hit the ground.

It seemed like the entire track froze once it happened. But Randy was so still, he wasn't even breathing.

He forced himself to turn around.

Julian was lying motionless, face down on the rough ground of the track.

Randy cried out his name and sprinted to him. He kneeled down on the ground, the artificial pebbles stabbing into his knees. He turned Julian over; he gazed at his unconscious face, brushing the off pebbles. Randy couldn't tell if he was breathing. "Julian…" he whispered, lightly slapping the goth's pale cheeks. "Wake up…C'mon man, wake up…"

Randy had dealt with a lot during his time as the Ninja. It was undeniable that he made tons of mistakes. People did get their feelings hurt, and the amount of property damage was countless. But he never let any of it get to him; he just learned his lesson and moved on.

But this was different. This was beyond different.

Never before had he dealt with someone becoming genuinely hurt by something related to the Ninja. This had to be the result of the mirror incident; Julian had seemed to be perfectly fine before then. And now, all of a sudden...

Randy felt himself trembling as his breathing accelerated. The impact of what was happening hit him with full throttle.

This was his fault.

He grabbed Julian's cold, limp hand. "I'm sorry..." he whispered quietly, his voice wavering.

Howard was the next one to make a move. "Cunningham!" He ran over to them and looked down at his friend. He watched him tremble as he held onto the goth's hand. Howard wasn't sure what to think. He could tell that Randy was pretty freaked out by this, but why? Why wasn't he just as stunned as the rest of the class? Why was there utter fear in his eyes? Howard put a hand on Randy's shoulder. "Cunningham?" he asked softly. Randy didn't react to the contact at all.

Coach Green and Principal Slimovitz rushed to them. The coach had a bottle of water with him and splashed Julian's face with it, but there was no result. The goth was definitely out cold.

"Should I get the nurse?" Howard asked.

"Bugger the nurse!" Coach Green exclaimed. "Call a bloody ambulance!"

"Already on it." piped up Principal Slimovitz, whipping out his cellphone.

Howard's eyes widened. ' _Ambulance?_ ' Before he could say or do anything else, he was corralled with his confused classmates by Coach Green, who led them all back inside the building.

Howard looked back briefly as they walked away from the track.

He saw Randy, still on the ground, still holding Julian's hand.

~XXX~

An ocean of anxious students rushed to the windows to get a good view of the ambulance. The teachers were doing everything in their power to keep them away, but their efforts were fruitless.

Neither the students or teachers had any real idea about what was going on right now, other than that it was something serious.

But away from the windows, away from everyone else, huddled in the corner of Mrs. Driscoll's classroom, was Der Monster Klüb.

They knew it was Julian. It couldn't have been anyone else, not after how much he had been deteriorating over the coarse of this week.

Theresa's body shook like an autumn leaf, tears cascading down her cheeks. Juggo held her right hand while Dave held her left, but both boys were blinking back tears of their own.

The teachers were too distracted to notice them run out of that room and out of the building.

Once they got outside, they saw exactly what they had been dreading to see.

Julian was being loaded into the ambulance on a stretcher by two paramedics. Two more stepped on, one carrying Julian's school bags, the other carrying what appeared to be Randy's bags.

Stepping onto the back of the ambulance behind them were Principal Slimovitz and a shell-shocked Randy Cunningham.


	6. Communicating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heidi and Theresa bond; Randy and Julian finally sort things out.

Even once the ambulance left the campus, Norrisville High remained in a frenzy.

With Principal Slimovitz gone, teachers were left with the responsibility to call the parents and have them pick their children up as soon as possible. Students crowded at the porch, waiting for their rides. Ms. Wickwhacker was by the driveway with a megaphone, directing students to their cars.

Howard was already leaving campus with his sister, Heidi. Their parents were working and wouldn't be able to get off yet. Their home was within walking distance anyway, so it didn't matter. Or at least, it shouldn't have mattered.

Heidi groaned. Normally, her transportation was from one of her friends that had their licenses already, but they had all left already. She was far from keen about having to walk all the way home out in the cold with her little brother. "This is so unfair. I can't believe they all left without me. They're probably gonna have a great time at the mall while I'm stuck with _you_."

"You think I wanna be walking with you?" Howard snapped. "Trust me, I'd trade you for Cunningham in a honkin' heartbeat."

Heidi was about to say something back, but then someone caught her eye.

Walking by herself, not too far away from them, was Theresa Fowler. Tears dyed black from her makeup streaked her cheeks. She radiated an aura of melancholy; just looking at her would urge anyone to feel bad for her.

Just minutes before, she had been at the top of the stairs of the school's porch. Words could not describe how scared and worried she was for Julian. Juggo, Accordion Dave, and Debbie Kang had all been comforting her earlier, but they had been picked up already.

From below the school, the Sorcerer could sense that someone was in deep distress and mourning, and was more than ready to Stank her. But a thick shield of comforting was blocking her from him is power, and by the time it was gone, so was she.

"What's up with her?" Heidi asked.

"Who, Fowler? She's friends with Julian, the guy that passed out," Howard replied nonchalantly. "Guess she's pretty torn up about it."

Heidi continued to look at her. It wasn't the melancholy that was attracting her; it was the mere concept of the supposed situation. Heidi wondered, if she was in Julian's place, would her own friends mourn the same way as Theresa? Would they even mourn at all?

Heidi was friends with Theresa, though they didn't hang out very much. Heidi wanted to get to know her better, but her other friends didn't want her to hang out with a freshmen at rock-bottom of popularity. And yet…And yet…

"Howard, go on without me," Heidi said, impulsively breaking away from her brother and made a beeline for the baton twirler.

Howard watched her walk away with confusion, but then rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He didn't care where his sister was going, as long as it was away from him.

Heidi sidled up next to Theresa, plastering on a peppy smile. "Hey, Teasey Feasey," she said, trying to sound uplifting.

Theresa glanced at her. "Oh, hey," she replied solemnly.

"I'm sorry about Jeremy."

"Julian."

"Yeah, him. Sorry, I'm so wonk with names." Heidi forced a laugh, trying to make light of the situation.

Theresa let out a heavy, shaky sigh, more tears beginning to cascade down her cheeks. Heidi realized that she wasn't exactly helping.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to-"

"No, no, it's fine…" Theresa assured her, though her expression didn't match her words. "I'm just…not in a good place right now."

Heidi remained by her side as they walked. Neither one of them said a word; Theresa was in her own world, and Heidi didn't want to make things any worse than they already were.

Eventually, they came across a bus stop, and Heidi decided that was good stopping point. She sat down at the bench there and had Theresa sit next to her. She took a pink handkerchief and a small bottle of makeup remover out of her bag. She dabbed the cloth in the liquid and handed it to Theresa, who proceeded to wipe away the dark trails of tears on her face.

Theresa sighed as she finished. "Thanks."

"No problem," Heidi replied. "I couldn't have you go out looking like that."

The baton twirler giggled. "Yeah, that could've been embarrassing."

The two girls laughed, finally relieved of the stress from the previous events.

"Well, it's still freezing out here," Heidi said. "Wanna stop somewhere and get something warm to drink? My treat."

"Sure. I know just the place."

She took her to Moonbeam.

They left the bus stop and continued to walk through the town. They didn't stop until they reached a certain building. It wasn't very big, though it was somewhat wide, with a door on each side. It was painted a pearly white. The storefront sign read "Moonbeam" in cursive, pale blue letters, with a white flower beneath it.

"You know," Heidi said as they approached the building, "I walk past this place all the time, but I've never actually gone inside."

Theresa smiled. "Trust me, you're gonna love it here."

But when they entered, the place was almost deserted; there were only a couple of patrons left. Moonbeam had never been an especially popular eatery, but it hadn't been this empty in a long time.

The cashier on duty explained that the owners had just left a few minutes ago. The kitchen was basically shut down at this point, as it was barely able to function without Darius in there. As a result, most of the customers had no choice but to leave.

"Do you want any help?" Theresa asked. "I don't mind."

"Nah, we'll probably end up closing in less than ten minutes," the cashier replied. "But you and your friend can stick around in the meantime. At least the baristas are still here."

And so, with hot chocolate to help relieve them from the late January chill, the two girls sat down at a table and began to chat.

"I just wish I could've done something," Theresa sighed. "I really wanted to help him, but he wouldn't tell me what was wrong. And we tell each other _everything_. We've told each other things we can't even tell our parents. I'm sure you have that kind of friend, right? The one you trust so much that you'd tell them anything?"

"Totally. Plenty of them," Heidi replied. She then hesitated, realizing that answer was far from truthful. She looked down at her cup. "I mean…About gossip and stuff, yeah. But about ourselves, not really. Actually…Okay, don't tell anyone about this. But, like…I'm not exactly tight with my friends."

"What do you mean?"

"I've always just fell in with the in-crowd, especially after I started the Me-Cast. They let me in and I took their offer. But I've never really…y'know…"

"Connected with them?" Theresa supplied.

"Yeah, exactly. We like a lot of the same stuff, and we do things together, but I feel like I can't talk to them about my problems and stuff."

"Well…" the baton twirler began somewhat hesitantly, "if you ever need someone to talk to about something personal, you can always come to me."

Heidi head shot up. "You mean that?"

Theresa smiled sweetly. "Sure. After all, we're friends, right?"

Heidi smiled back. "Right."

She wasn't sure why she was letting this freshmen know about these things she'd rather keep hidden. There was something _special_ about Theresa. Whether it was from her sweet voice, gentle gaze, or kind words, she gave off a vibe that let everyone know that she would accept anyone for who they were. That explained why she hung out with such strange people all the time. It was surprising that she didn't have more friends. It was even more surprising that she wasn't in a relationship, considering that she was absolutely beautiful.

Heidi briefly shook her head when that last part crossed her mind.

There were still things she was far from ready to tell anyone, even someone as inviting as Theresa.

They both finished their drinks as the employees began to close up shop. They headed outside, back to the cold, outside world.

"So, what next?" Heidi asked. "Wanna go to the mall and hang out?"

"Not now," Theresa replied. "I should be getting home."

"How about Sundays, then? I can't tomorrow; Sabbath and stuff."

"That's fine. I usually work on Saturday anyway, though the owners will probably keep the place closed for the next few days. It can barely function without them here."

"What's keeping them?"

"They're Julian's parents."

Heidi's eyes widened. "Oh…"

Theresa sighed. "I can't even imagine how worried and scared they must be right now. I should probably call them tonight, just to make sure they're okay."

The two girls stood in silence for a moment that felt like it could go on forever. The ambiance of the rest of the town was barely present to them.

"W-Well…" Heidi broke the silence hesitantly, nervously smiling. "How about I walk you home? Your house isn't too far from mine, right?"

Theresa smiled back. "Yeah. Thanks."

And as they walked together side by side, Theresa couldn't help but think that maybe now that they had gotten to know each other a little better, they could become better friends.

Or maybe even something more.

~XXX~

It was as if a tremor was going through Randy's body. His entire body, overcome by anxiety and a swarm of different emotions.

He didn't want this happen. He didn't know this was going to happen. He didn't even consider it. He had no idea just how grave all of this was. Julian must have been deeply scarred by what happened, and now he could be in even more danger. Randy felt like he could've done something. Talk to the goth; help him cope. _Anything_.

What exactly led Julian to become like this? Was he going to be okay? Randy was terrified; no matter what happened, it was going to be his fault in the end.

He felt like consulting Nomicon for some kind of advice on calming down in some way. But at the same time, he didn't even want to move a muscle.

"Randy, are you okay?" Principal Slimovitz asked, gently placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Do you need some water?"

Randy shook his head. He couldn't speak, his throat dry as sand. His stomach was churning; he felt like just opening his mouth would cause him to vomit.

The principal sighed. "Well, I just got off the phone with your parents; they're on their way. Julian's parents are coming too; they should be here soon. I'm going to wait by the door for them. Will you be okay on your own here?"

Randy nodded, and Principal Slimovitz walked away.

After a couple of minutes, he returned with a man and a woman Randy had never seen before. However, it didn't take much of hint for him to realize who they were.

The father was quite tall and very thin. His raven black hair was short. He was wearing beige khakis and a midnight blue t-shirt had "Moonbeam" in cursive, sky blue letters. There was a picture underneath the word, but it was concealed by a forest green apron that had bits of various substances on it. Frankly, he was basically that of an average dad. He bore very little resemblance to Julian; he had his nose and eye color, but that was about it.

The mother was only a few inches shorter than her husband. Her likeness to Julian was much more visible, though her nose was a bit smaller. Her bright amber eyes glowed like pearls of flame. Her dark, alluring blue hair, much longer and just a shade lighter than Julian's, was tied in a ponytail by a white scrunchy. She was wearing a loose fitting white t-shirt and a knee-length black skirt, both of them adorned in an array of colorful paint stains. Streams of tears, dyed jet black by eye makeup, streaked her pale cheeks. She was clinging desperately to her husband, her legs trembling as sobs rocked her body.

"Randy, these are Julian's parents." Principal Slimovitz said. He opened his mouth to keep talking, but Julian's father immediately jumped into the conversation.

"Wait, _Randy_?" the man asked, looking shocked. "Are you Randall Cunningham?"

' _H'oh boy, here we go…_ ' Randy thought. Not knowing how else to respond, he nodded nervously.

Julian's father smiled, a lot more cheerful all of a sudden. "Julian has told much about you. He's very fond of you."

Randy didn't respond. He could imagine Julian being absolutely mortified if he were present. But even more so, he was surprised that they didn't mention the attack, or the fact that he had saved their son. Perhaps they thought it wouldn't be appropriate to bring up right now, which was understandable.

As Principal Slimovitz and Julian's father talked for a few moments about the situation, Julian's mother sat down. There was a single chair between her and Randy. Randy looked at her; her body was trembling like a leaf. She definitely needed her space.

Having to make sure everything was in order at the school, Principal Slimovitz left the hospital a few minutes later. Julian's father took the seat on his wife's left, leaving the space open between them and Randy. He didn't mind that one bit. He took a quick glance; the mother was clinging to her husband, crying into his chest. The father was trying to comfort her as tears of his own cascaded down his cheeks. Randy felt uncomfortable.

After about ten minutes, a doctor arrived to give an update on Julian's condition. "He should be fine," she explained. "He was extremely sleep deprived. He'll most likely wake up in the next few hours, but he'll be far from rested. I'd recommend you'd let us sedate him. It everything works out, we can release him by tomorrow after noon."

"Will you let us see him before you sedate him?" Julian's father asked, his wife clinging to him even tighter at the mention of sedation.

The doctor nodded. "Once he is awake, yes. I have to go check on him again; I'll send someone here once he's ready for visitors." The doctor then walked away.

Randy began to wonder, should he visit Julian? It felt like the right thing to do; it would give him a chance to apologize for all that has happened. But at the same time, he wasn't sure if he could face the goth again after allowing this to happen to him.

"Randy!"

Randy's eyes widened as he saw his parents dashing towards him. ' _Oh no…_ '

Before he knew it, he was in his mother's death grip of a hug, barely able to breathe.

"Allie, tone it down a little," his father said, rolling his eyes.

Randy's mother pulled away, glaring at her husband with vitriol. "Well, excuse me for being concerned about my son."

"Ah, you must be Randy's parents." Julian's father said, getting up from his seat. Though still teary eyed, he was smiling, his entire demeanor a lot more cheerful all of a sudden.

Randy's mother and Julian's father looked at each other with some sense of recognition. Since Randy's parents taught at the middle school, it made sense that they would've met Julian's parents at least once before, perhaps during Parents Night or something.

Randy's mother was smiling her professional smile, holding out her hand. "Caleb and Alma Cunningham. It's a pleasure to see you again after so long, Mister and Missus-"

"Oh, please." Julian's father said warmly, shaking Alma's hand. "No need for formalities. I'm Darius and this is my wife, Margaret."

Margaret just stared up at them, tears still streaming down her face.

Both couples sat down in the chairs. Darius took his original seat. Caleb sat at Randy's right while Alma sat at his left, filling up the empty space.

"I'm so sorry about these circumstances." she said sympathetically. "Is the investigation going well? Did you catch the one who did it?"

Darius looked at her with clear confusion. "Pardon me?"

"You know…The _attack_ …"

"What attack?"

Randy's heart dropped down to his stomach.

Julian hadn't told his parents anything? Not even the lie? Why? Why wouldn't he tell them anything?

Randy knew that he had said "in case your parents ask." But frankly, if things had turned out this way, they ought to have asked at least once.

Then again, he never actually _asked_ Julian if he was okay with outright lying to his own parents…

Oh, God.

He was much more to blame for this than he initially thought.

His body resumed trembling and rocking. He could faintly hear his mother explain the "attack" to Darius and Margaret. He did his best to mentally block it out, but it was difficult. It became even harder when he heard both of Julian's parents break into devastated sobs. He tried to block it all out; all of it, until he was completely numb to everything that was happening.

"You okay, bud?' his father asked with concern. "You look like a ghost."

Randy did not hear him. He couldn't feel anything; was he even breathing? The presence of the world had melted away.

"Oh my God," his mother suddenly gasped. "Come on."

She abruptly grabbed his hand and hurriedly dragged him to the nearest trashcan, where he promptly lost his lunch. He was glad she did this; his body wouldn't have done the job for him at this point.

Once he was finished, she pulled him into a protective hug.

He knew she was going to demand some kind of explanation as to why they didn't know, and he tried to give her some semblance of one. "I…I thought he…" He couldn't say anything properly; his mind was all over the place and seemed to disconnect with his words. He wanted to cry, but no tears would come out.

"Shh…" his mother cooed. "I know, I know."

No, she didn't know. She had absolutely no idea about what had really happened, and neither did her husband and Julian's parents.

And that just made Randy feel even worse.

~XXX~

Julian was fine.

He was utterly exhausted, but he was fine.

His body couldn't carry on after a week of almost no sleep, not after pushing himself so hard to make it seem like everything was okay. He did this to himself, and he was paying the price.

But he didn't mind. He wasn't thinking about that right now; he wasn't thinking about anything. He was bestowed with a deep, dreamless sleep. It was the best thing that had happened to him all week.

Eventually, however, he came to his senses. The brightness of the room he was in forced him to open his eyes.

Blinking, he sat up and looked around. Once he figured out where he was, he realized that he was now at a point of no return. His parents would definitely demand an explanation now, and they wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Ah, you're awake." someone suddenly said. A young looking nurse had walked in at that moment. "The doctor said you would wake up around this time."

"How long was I out?" the goth asked.

"About four hours. Your family is here. Would you like them to come in?"

Julian nodded slowly. He could run away from his evil self all he wants, but there was no more avoiding his parents.

~XXX~

Randy's trembling hands tightly clutched the lukewarm can of ginger ale. His father got it for him from a nearby convenience store. Still in a state of panic and guilt, he was taking tiniest of sips. Four hours had now come and gone; it wasn't even half empty yet. He wasn't feeling any better.

"Randy, listen to me." his mother said softly. "This isn't your fault. There's no way you could've known that he didn't tell them."

"I should've asked." Randy mumbled. He held the can to his lips again, but another wave of nausea hit him. He handed the can to his father, groaning in pain.

His mother squeezed his hand. "Son, I'm not going to say this again. _This is not your fault_."

"I could've done something. I could've done something more."

"Well, if you had just called the police-"

"Allie, don't." Caleb suddenly spoke up. "Not here, not now. Not when he's like this."

"I just…" Alma began to speak, but bit her lip, racking her brain for the appropriate words. She couldn't find them, so she decided to remain silent.

A few minutes later, a nurse came to inform Julian's parents that their son was ready for visitors.

"Wait!" Randy impulsively stood up from his seat as Julian's parents were leaving. All eyes fell on him. Randy hesitated for moment, but he decided to go through with what he wanted to say. "Can…Can I see him?"

Julian's parents stared at him for a moment, but then Darius gave him a gentle smile. "Of course you can, Randy."

Randy followed them to Julian's hospital room. He needed to get in there and see if the goth was alright. Maybe he could find the will to apologize while he was in there, if he was even capable at this point.

At the same time, he knew Julian would need much more than just a mere apology.

~XXX~

"Julian!"

Almost as soon as he heard his name, he was immediately smothered by his parents' embrace.

Their sobbing filled his ears, and it was the most heartbreaking sound he had ever heard in his life. He could feel tears sting his eyes as the realization settled in, that he had hurt his parents in the worst possible way. He couldn't imagine the grief and fear they must have been going through.

Margaret's cries eventually grew somewhat softer, but she still wouldn't let go.

Darius pulled away, but he grabbed his son's hand, squeezing it firmly. "Julian…Jules, why didn't you tell us? Just tell me why…"

"I just didn't know how…" Julian whimpered, using his free arm to hug his mother back. "I'm…I'm sorry…"

"What did he try to do to you? Did he try to assault you or mug you or abduct-"

"Yes." Julian blurted out. "He tried to abduct me. That's exactly what happened."

"Why? What did he want with you?"

"I don't know." That was the whole hearted truth. He had no idea what his other self had wanted, aside from freedom.

What would he do once he had that freedom?

~XXX~

Randy stood just outside the door for what felt like centuries, waiting for Julian's parents to emerge from the room. He was contemplating what he would say once he and Julian would be alone together in there. He wasn't sure if he could even have guts to speak once he was in there. He was even considering just leaving right now, back to his parents, so they could just go home and not have to worry about this.

No.

He wasn't going to ditch Julian. No, not after letting this happen. This was his fault, and he need to do _something_ about it.

After several minutes, Darius and Margaret walked out of the room. Margaret was still crying lightly, her face completely soaked with tears. She didn't even look at Randy; she was in her own world at that point. Darius gave Randy a nod, letting him know it was okay now.

Once they were gone, Randy took a deep breath. He forced himself to walk into the room. His heart almost stopped when he saw Julian.

His entire face was streaked with tears, yet he was smiling innocently. "Hello, Randall…" he greeted in a soft voice.

Randy remained silent. He hesitantly walked up to the bed and forced himself to look Julian in the eyes, two different shades of blue connecting. The goth was looking up at him intently.

Randy took a deep breath. "I…Julian, I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I should've been there more; I knew you weren't okay and I didn't do anything to help. Howard told me to ignore you and…God, I don't know why I listened. Literally all I had to do was talk to you…"

"This isn't your fault, Randall," Julian said, softly yet sternly. "I let this happen to myself. If you had tried to intervene, I would have just pushed you away. I should have listened to you before anyhow."

"No. It's, like, the opposite. I shouldn't have asked you to lie to your parents. That was really wonked up thing to do."

"No, you did the right thing. They wouldn't be able to handle truth." Julian looked down at the white sheets of the hospital bed. "They can barely handle the lie…"

"What happened?" Randy asked. "What made all… _this_ happen? The nightmares?"

The goth nodded. "They've been getting worse and worse by the day. I keep seeing _him_ , escaping into our world and attacking the people I love…I wish I could go to my parents or Theresa, but I don't want them to find out about what really happened. And I don't want to burden you with my problems."

Both boys fell silent. Neither one knew what to do or say next. That is, until Randy whipped his phone out of his pocket and placed it in Julian's hands.

"Give me your number." Randy demanded. "I'll give mine to your parents. Call me the next time you have a nightmare. Just talk to me when you need to."

Julian stared at him for a moment before beginning to enter his number into the phone's contacts. "You don't have to do this." he said softly. "I don't want you losing sleep too."

"I'll be fine. I don't think I'll be able to sleep knowing that you're feeling like this."

Julian blushed when he said that. Randy pretended not to notice.

A nurse suddenly poked her head into the door. "Excuse me, but we will do the sedation in a couple of minutes. I'm going to have to ask you to leave, young man."

"'Kay." Randy replied to the nurse. He looked back at Julian, accepting the phone back. "Well…I'll see you later. Remember, you can just give me a call anytime you need to."

Julian nodded. "Okay…Thank you, Randall. Thank you so much."

There was a pause of stillness, neither one of them willing to make the next move. But it seemed something within them took over then, and let it happen. Impulsively, overcome by all of their emotions, they embraced each other. They were the only ones who knew what they were going through, aside from Howard, who wasn't fully in the know and was acting pretty apathetic so far. Truly, Randy and Julian only had each other at this troubled time.

Randy held on tightly, wanting this moment to last as long as possible. He wanted to protect this person with everything he had, as himself and as the Ninja.

But for now, he forced himself to let go. _Just for now_.

~XXX~

On the way home, Darius and Margaret went through a drive thru, something they hadn't done since Margaret was pregnant with Julian.

They ate the meal in silence at home. The lights were low as they looked down at their barely touched food. It was mostly flavorless to them, as they were both used to delicacies. But more than that, they were just too overwhelmed by mixed emotions to eat now.

Margaret eventually spoke up. "Dear, I think we should cut back on Julian's hours."

After a pause of silence, Darius sighed. "You're right."

"And not just because of all this. It's just too much for him as is. He has enough to deal with high school and all, something like this would have happened eventually. It was a mistake to have him work so much in the first place."

"I know. He just seemed so…willing at the time. And he still is. But…it was irresponsible of us to let him take on so much. Same for Theresa. Working so much would definitely take a toll on them sooner or later. They're just kids, after all…"

"Yes. And…I've also been thinking that…that…"

"What is it, Maggie?"

"That…perhaps, we should cut back a little as well? Perhaps Julian is so willing to be there because…we're _always_ there. We should've trained some staff to take charge. You could've gotten someone as skilled as you in the kitchen; I could have found someone that could lead the classes. But instead we just took on any bit of work we could do ourselves. And now Julian and, to a lesser extent, Theresa are following our example. "

Darius hesitated to speak. "Yeah. Moonbeam…Moonbeam's become too dependent on us. Business wise, it's pretty pathetic that it can't function without us there. And it's even more pathetic of us to let that happening. Maybe _we're_ one the ones that have become too dependent on _it_."

Margaret let out a shaky sigh. "All three of us…We're just falling apart…"

Darius reached across the table, taking his wife's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Margaret looked at him with tears in her amber eyes.

He gently smiled at her. "Things will get better, my moonbeam. They always have."

Margaret smiled back. "They always will."

~XXX~

It was a solemn ride home for the Cunninghams, with very little conversation.

"Are you sure you don't want any dinner?"

"I'm sure, Mom."

"Are you absolutely sure? You'll be hungry during the night and-"

"Allie, stop." Caleb interrupted. "He's not honkin' hungry. Leave him be."

When they arrived at home, both parents watched as Randy went upstairs without a word. They had never seen their son in such a depressed state, and they didn't know what they could do about it.

Once he was gone, they both went silent. They went over to the living room couch and sat down, staring at the blank TV screen.

Alma let out a sigh. "He should've called the police."

"It doesn't matter anymore," "What's done is done, sunshine."

Alma's cheeks flushed red as she rolled her eyes. "You know I hate it when you call me that."

"I know," Caleb chuckled. "That's why I love doing it." He moved in closer to her and put an arm around her. "Look, we can't change anything that's already happened. But we can at least help them out when we can. And we have to help Randy; this whole thing has messed him just as much, y'know." He gave her a small peck on the forehead. "Don't worry, sunshine. Everything will be fine."

Alma rested her head on her husband's shoulder. "I hope so…"


	7. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get awkward between Randy and Julian while Howard acts like a douchebag.

It was late Saturday night when Randy got the first call.

He wasn't even asleep. He had spent the entire night tossing and turning in bed, anticipating this inevitable moment.

As soon as he heard the ringtone, he got down from his bunk and grabbed his phone off of his desk. The second he hit the "answer" button and held the phone to his ear, Julian's voice flooded out in a mess of sobs. Randy couldn't understand a single word of it, but it was quite obvious that this dream wasn't pretty. Even so, Randy figured he could at least _try_ to do something, even though he didn't have any context.

"Julian, listen to me," he said softly. "Whatever it was, it wasn't real. It was all in your head. And if it does happen, then I'll be there to stop it."

"But he _killed_ you!" Julian wailed.

Randy's eyes widened. Julian had dreamt about him getting killed by the white Julian? He wasn't sure what to think of that. "Well…At least it wasn't real. I'm still here, aren't I?"

"I'm sorry, Randall," Julian sobbed. "I'm so, so sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you into this. I should have let him do whatever it was he wanted…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Randy interjected. "Julian, no. I'm the one who should be sorry. You…You have to live with all these secrets now. Howard and I had an entire semester to get used to stuff like this. But for you…this has all been going so fast…"

Julian sniveled, sounding like he has calmed down somewhat. "Randall, may I ask you something?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Why must you keep your position as the Ninja a secret? I mean, I understand not wanting constant publicity, but why not just tell those closest to you? Why can't you even tell your parents?"

Randy sighed; now the goth would have to keep even more secrets. "Julian, if I told you that Hannibal McFist was out to kill the Ninja, would believe me?"

"Wh-What?!" Julian gasped.

And so Randy told him everything about the Ninja's two greatest adversaries. About the Sorcerer lurking beneath his school, awaiting freedom, turning emotional teenagers into monsters. About McFist and Viceroy, the true sources of the frequently attacking robots. How they wanted the Ninja dead, no matter who the Ninja happened to be. How they would go to any measure to find him, and they would not hesitate to hurt someone.

"I've lost count of how many times Howard almost got killed because of me," Randy concluded solemnly. "At this point, there's nothing more dangerous than knowing my secret…I'm really sorry, Julian. You have no idea how much I wish none of this had happened."

There was a long pause of silence.

Finally, Julian spoke up. "Thank you, Randall."

"…For what?"

"For everything. I'm sure the Ninja is constantly showered in gratitude, but I'm thanking _you_. I'm sure you never hear it from Howard, and _someone_ has to say it. Besides, you're the one who has been helping get through this; not the Ninja."

Randy's eyes widened as he heard those words. He never thought he would hear these words before, from anyone. Howard _had_ thanked him a few times before, but not as often as he should. But it was to be expected, as Howard very rarely thanked Randy for anything even _before_ he became the Ninja.

Randy swallowed the lump in his throat. "You're welcome, Julian. And…thanks for thanking me."

Julian giggled on the other end; he sounded so cute, Randy couldn't help but smile a little.

"Well," the goth said, "it is quite late. I should let you go now. Thank you again, Randall. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Randy sighed, hanging up. He climbed back into his bed, ready for sleep. He had Julian on his mind all throughout last night and all day today. He tried to suppress it as he played Grave Puncher with Howard, but his mind wouldn't allow it.

He was finally somewhat relieved, knowing that he was able to something to ease the pain a little. For Julian, and for himself.

~XXX~

The phone rang early Sunday evening.

Randy hadn't been expecting it, or at least he wasn't expecting to get it at this particular time. He was just finishing up his homework when he heard his ringtone blaring, and he immediately rushed to it.

When he answered, the first thing he heard was Julian crying softly. He didn't sound as afraid as he did yesterday, but he still sounded incredibly distressed.

"Julian, Julian," Randy said, "calm down, man. Just calm down. Talk to me, dude; tell me what's wrong."

"I…I…" Julian stammered. "I saw him for one second before forcing myself to wake…I don't want him in my dreams anymore…I just want him to leave my mind forever…" He broke into sobs, seemingly unable to form words.

It was absolutely heartbreaking for Randy to hear those cries. He wanted to do something about it, to make the goth feel safe again. But how could he possibly do that? Right now, his only option was to simply talk.

"Shh, Julian, listen to me," he said softly, doing his best to sound soothing. "It's all in your head. He's not here; he can't hurt you right now. But I'm right here; I'm gonna help you help you get through this."

Randy continued comfort Julian with his words as much as he could, and as the minutes passed, the cries began to soften. Soon enough, it was reduced to quiet breathing.

"Feeling better?" Randy asked.

"Yes…Thank you, Randall," Julian answered.

"It's pretty early, isn't it?"

"Yes, but I've been sleeping so much lately, it's difficult to get back into a normal schedule. Luckily, I still have a couple of days left to adjust."

"Do you know when you'll be back?"

"I go back to school on Wednesday, and work on Thursday."

"Well, at least you won't be gone for too long." Randy smiled. "And I'll help you catch up with stuff if you want."

"Thank you so much, Randall. I'd hug you if I weren't confined to my room like this," Julian giggled. He then sighed. "Well, I do believe I can fall back to sleep in peace now. Thank you again, Randall. I'll talk to you again soon."

"Alright, bud. G'night," Randy said, hanging up the phone.

He set the phone down and stared blankly at his half-finished assignment. He couldn't concentrate on it anymore; now, he could only think about Julian. He imagined him lying in an elegant canopy bed, tossing and turning as he tried to fall asleep, dried tears sticking to his cheeks.

Randy wanted to help him in any way he could.

He wanted to be there with him. To comfort him for real.

Hold him. Feel his warmth. Softly whisper in his ear that everything will be alright. Run a hand through his hair and…

…Randy shook his head. Maybe he wasn't getting enough sleep either. He must be really tired if he's letting himself think about _those_ sort of things.

~XXX~

Monday went by without incident.

No Stanking, no robots, just boring old school.

Frankly, Randy was grateful for this; he was so stressed out, he probably would have messed up royally in battle.

It wasn't until the very end of the school day, when he and Howard were just walking out of the building, that something interesting happened.

"Randy! Hey, Randy!"

Randy and Howard turned around and saw Theresa, Dave, and Juggo heading towards them. Howard looked displeased to see them, but Randy plastered on a smile.

"Yo guys, what's up?" he greeted them.

"Well…" Theresa began, "we're all headed to Julian's house to help him catch up with his homework and stuff."

"And we thought it'd be cool to bring you along," Juggo said.

"It'd be a nice surprise for him; he really wants to see you," Dave added.

Randy suddenly felt incredibly nervous. Somehow, the prospect of seeing Julian in person again made him feel this way. His heart wanted to see him, but his mind was screaming _no_. He didn't want to see him, or at least not right now. He needed to be ready first…"

"Y-Yeah, uh…" Randy stammered, "I kinda have a… _thing_ going on today so, um…I can't. Sorry."

"Smooth, Cunningham," Howard mumbled, smiling to himself.

"Oh…" the Klüb all said, looking down, seeming disappointed.

"B-But I can go tomorrow!" Randy said a bit too loudly. "Is that okay?"

The Klüb members' faces lit up, smiling.

"Sure it is," Theresa replied, the two others nodding.

"Can Howard come too?" Randy asked, pulling the shorter boy close.

Howard's eyes widened, his brows furrowing. "What? I don't wanna-"

" _Yes you do_ ," Randy said through clenched teeth.

The three Klüb members looked at each other, seeming hesitant.

"Well…I don't see why not." Theresa answered with a shrug.

"Cool. So we'll see you guys there tomorrow, then?" Randy asked.

"Yeah, definitely. See you guys tomorrow."

As the Klüb walked off, Randy could faintly hear Juggo ask the others, "Should we really let Howard be there?"

He glared at Howard. "You know, you could be nicer to them."

"You know," Howard mimicked his tone, "you shouldn't have to force me to hang out with weirdos!"

"Look, I just can't do it alone, okay?" Randy exclaimed. "I mean, I've been talking to him on the phone for these last couple of nights and he sounds like. And…he sounds so torn apart by all of this. I can't look at him without being reminded of the hospital and crap."

Howard rolled his eyes. "You're such a honkin' wuss, Cunningham. Look, fine, I'll come and be your security blanket or whatever. But don't let all this get to your head even more than it already has."

~XXX~

"Bro, why didn't you tell me Julian lived in the _nice_ neighborhood?" Howard questioned.

Randy just shrugged. "Guess I didn't notice." Frankly, when he walked Julian home on the day of the "attack," he wasn't paying attention to where the neighborhood was. He was more concentrated on getting the goth home safe and sound. But looking around, the other houses were just as nice as Julian's.

"How could you not notice-"

"Dude, shut up. We're here."

The Klüb, who were far ahead of them, stepped onto the porch as Randy and Howard neared the house. They walked up to the door, which Theresa knocked on. Darius answered it and warmly greeted the Klüb, giving them all hugs. Randy and Howard were walking up the steps of the porch as the Klüb entered the house.

Darius smiled at the two. "Hello, Randy. It's so nice to see you again. And you must be Howard; Julian has told a lot about you as well."

"Great to see you too, sir," Randy said somewhat nervously. Howard said nothing.

They entered the house and looked around in awe; it was just as nice inside as it was outside. But they ignored all of the nice furniture and hurriedly followed the Klüb upstairs.

"Yo, don't be a jerk to him, okay?" Randy whispered to Howard.

"No promises," Howard replied, prompting an eye roll from Randy.

By the time they reached the second story, the Klüb were already running into what was apparently Julian's room, excitedly screaming his name. Barely a second past before the sound of all four members' laughter filled the hall. Randy froze in place when he heard the goth's voice, starting to get cold feet. But Howard dragged him to the doorway before he could have chance to truly change his mind.

As they entered the room, Randy finally laid eyes on Julian for the first time since Friday. Sitting on a queen sized bed with royal purple sheets, the goth was clad in an oversized t-shirt for some metal band that broke up years ago. His bare legs exposed, it was impossible to tell if he was wearing shorts or anything underneath. His hair was a bit tussled and he wasn't wearing makeup. He looked rested and happy now, crowded by the affection of his three best friends.

Randy felt his cheeks heat up, and he hoped with all his might that Howard wouldn't see him blush. He couldn't help it; Julian was just too honking _cute_.

Julian's face reddened as well, his eyes widening in surprise. "Randall! Wh-What are you doing-"

"Surprise!" the rest of the Klüb shouted gleefully in unison.

But Julian seemed to be panicking. "He…He can't see my dressed like this…" He whispered something to his friends, who also went wide eyes. They nodded in agreement to whatever it was he said.

All of a sudden, Juggo and Dave jumped out of the bed and headed straight for Randy. Before he knew it, he was being pushed back to the doorway.

"Sorry, we should've planned this better," Juggo said simply.

"Wait, wait, what-" Randy stammered as he was pushed out the door.

"Cunningham!" Howard screamed melodramatically as this was happening, dropping to his knees. "Don't leave me here with these weirdos!"

Before Randy could do or say anything else, he was back out in the hallway, the door slamming behind him. ' _What the juice?_ ' he thought to himself, staring at the door in confusion.

He flinched when he heard another door open a few doors down. He turned around and saw Margaret. Her attire, simple clothes covered in paint stains, really clashed with the house she dwelled in.

She turned and saw him. She smiled angelically at him. "Hello, Randall. It's so lovely to see you again.

Randy flinched a little. Looking at Margaret's smile, he could now see where Julian got his fangs from. He was probably too stressed out the other day to notice this minute detail.

He managed to make himself speak. "Oh, um…Hi, Missus…Julian's mom."

The woman chuckled warmly. "Call me Margaret or Maggie. Whichever you prefer."

"O-Okay…Maggie."

She chuckled again, giving him a final glance as she descended down the stairs.

Randy found himself staring at the stairs for a while longer. Then he heard the door swing open a little, and he took the

The others were all on the floor. Julian was now wearing his usual attire. He was still without makeup, and but his hair was more refined now, and his hat was atop his head.

"Hello, Randall," he giggled, his cheeks slightly pink. "Thank you so much for coming by. Please have a seat."

Randy hesitantly sat down next to Howard, who was shaking with his hands over his eyes.

Randy elbowed him. "Dude, what the juice are you doing?"

Howard lowered his hands, looking around with wide eyes. "Oh, thank cheese…I saw him take off his shirt and I couldn't risk seeing anything after that…"

Randy rolled his eyes at how pathetically his friend handled the situation, but he didn't say anything about it.

The group spread out on the floor with their homework. The Klüb gave Julian his assignments and explained everything that he had missed to him. Randy acted like as though he was there to help, but in reality, he was just as lost as Julian. Luckily, Randy managed to get most of his work done, other than Spanish, since Julian took French. And then there was Howard, who didn't give a honk about any of this.

Afterwards, the group began to chat while snacking on kale chips made by Darius. Randy found himself genuinely enjoying talking and hanging out with the Klub, just like he did when he became a temporary member a few months back. Howard, on the other hand, just sat huffily, waiting for this to be over with.

"So you go back to work on Thursday, right?" Randy asked Julian.

The goth nodded. "Yes I do, as will my parents."

"So did you already go back, Theresa?"

"No, actually…" Theresa said a little bit nervously. "I actually had to quit."

Randy's eyes widened at that response. "Quit? Why?"

"Darius and Maggie said they didn't want me to get overwhelmed by work, so they said they'd understand I did it. My parents had actually been wanting me to stop working for a while, since my grades aren't at their best right now, so I decided I may as well. I still love the place though."

Julian sighed heavily. "I was given the option to quit as well, but I refuse. I'm just as passionate about that place as Mother and Father are, I can't bear to leave it. So they heavily cut back on my hours; I'm not allowed to work on weekends anymore."

Randy went quiet as the Klüb progressed back to casual conversation. Julian really seemed to care about that Moonbeam place. Randy wondered, maybe he should stop by it sometime?

"Oh my gosh, you'll never believe what Heidi told me at the mall the other day," Theresa said, giggling.

That caught Howard's attention. "Wait, wait, you were hanging out with my sister?"

"Yeah," the baton twirler replied.

Howard burst out laughing. "Heidi-honkin'-Weinerman, hanging out with a freshman. Man, that's some good leverage right there."

Theresa frowned. "Well…I mean, she and I had a great time and…" Her cheeks flushed a light pink.

"Howard, cut it out," Randy said defensively. "It's not honkin' funny. They're friends; what wrong with that?"

"Cunningham, you've known Heidi long enough to know what hanging out with a freshman could do to her reputation," Howard said bluntly.

"Yeah, but…I dunno, maybe she just doesn't care?"

"Whatever," Howard said, rolling his eyes. "Well, I can't tolerate any of you for much longer, so I'll be taking my leave." He stood up and grabbed his book bag.

Randy's eyes widened. "Dude…Dude, you can't leave now."

"Sure I can," Howard said, giving a small wave. "Thanks for the blackmail material, Fowler. See ya later, shoobs." And with that, he walked out the door, slamming it behind him.

Randy sighed. "Sorry, guys. I told him not to act like a jerk, but…"

"Don't apologize, Randall," Julian assured him. "He doesn't bother us."

"Yeah, but…" Randy muttered, feeling embarrassed.

"Really, it's okay," Juggo insisted. "We hear way worse all the time. Besides, it's not like you were the one who said it."

"You don't have to take responsibility for him," Dave said.

Randy didn't feel any better though. "Well, I mean…Howard's not a bad person. He's just…just…awkward, I guess."

The four Klüb member exchanged unsure looks before shrugging. Randy wasn't sure how to respond to that, or interpret it for that matter. Did they not believe him? But Howard was a good friend. He was a great friend.

He was Randy's best friend. His _only_ friend…

Theresa let out a sigh. "Anyway, it is getting kind of late. We should be heading home too."

Randy's heart accelerated as the Klüb said their goodbyes, hugging Julian on their way out. He was beginning to panic a little inside, knowing that he was about to be left alone with the goth. Should he leave now too?

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Theresa suddenly hugged him as well. "Thanks for standing up for me," she said as she pulled away, smiling sweetly.

Randy blushed a little bit. "You're welcome."

And just like that, it was just him and Julian, alone in the bedroom. There was a long awkward silence, and neither one of them knew what to do about it.

"You may leave if you want to, Randall," Julian said.

Randy froze for a second before shaking his head. "N-No, I don't mind for staying for a little longer, unless you want me to go."

"No, no, you're company is appreciated. Stay as long as you wish."

The two sat idly on the floor, desperately thinking of something to strike up conversation.

"Perhaps…Perhaps, you could tell me more about being the Ninja?" the goth suggested.

Randy smiled at that thought. "Okay." He grabbed his bag and pulled out a very special book. "So this right here is the _NinjaNomicon_."

And so the two sat side by side on the bed as Randy told Julian all about his experience as the Ninja. There were some details he omitted, but . Julian was smiling the whole time, and he seemed genuinely invested. Randy was grateful for this, as Howard stopped caring about all of this stuff months ago. It was nice to finally have another confidant.

They only stopped when Randy got a text from his mother. "Ah, dang…I gotta go."

The goth's smile faded almost instantly. "Oh…Alright…"

The two shared a very brief embrace before Randy got off the bed and gathered his stuff.

Julian hesitated for a moment before blurting out, "Randall, I…I do have a, um…request I'd like for you to grant before you leave."

Not sure what to expect, Randy walked back to the bed. "Sure, dude. What is it?"

"Could you kiss me?"

"…What?"

"Just a little? Not even on the lips. Please, just this once?"

Randy couldn't say no. Well, he technically could, but not without coming off as a shoob. Besides, the top priority was to help Julian feel better about everything. If this was going to help, even a little…

Squeezing his eyes shut, Randy lightly pecked Julian on the cheek.

Julian couldn't help but giggle, his cheeks flushing a bright red.

Randy laughed uncomfortably, feeling his face heat up as well. Julian just had the cutest…no, he wasn't going to think about that. "Okay, I _really_ gotta go!" he said. "See ya tomorrow!" He was already gone before Julian could say anything back.

The goth remained still for a moment, placing a hand over where Randy's lips had grazed him, processing what just happened.

Were Randy's cheeks red?

Julian fell backwards onto the mattress and exhaled heavily. ' _Don't be such a fool._ ' he thought. ' _He was only blushing because he was embarrassed. He likes girls; no matter what ends up happening, he's never going to want you._ '

A couple minutes later, his parents walked in and sat on his bed, looking very amused by something.

"Your friend was pretty red in the face," his father said.

"We know how fond of him you are," his mother added. "You two are awfully cute together."

Julian blushed. "It's never going to happen. He likes girls."

His parents glanced at each other playfully, clearly not believing that to be true.

"Time will tell," his father chuckled.

~XXX~

At school the next morning, Julian decided to tell Theresa about the kiss.

He had been hiding so much from her already at this point; he decided to at least let this thing out.

"Oh my God, Julie!" she exclaimed with a big smile. "He actually did it?!"

"Yes, and…well…He looked like he was blushing."

The baton twirler squealed and threw her arms around her friend. "I'm so happy for you! You can actually end up with him!"

Julian was surprised that Theresa was acting so fine with this, considering she was attracted to Randy as well. If there was one problem with Julian and Theresa's friendship, it was definitely their feelings towards Randy. They had always gushed about him together; it was one of the many things that united them. But at the same time, they knew all too well that he could only have one of them. The fact that he showed essentially no attraction to boys and very little interest in girls didn't exactly help.

The goth wanted to question her about her reaction, but he decided to hold off on it for now, as there was already too much going on in his mind.

"I don't think that's possible, Theresa," he said somewhat nervously. "We both know he likes girls…"

"Honestly, I think he really likes you."

Julian's eyes widened. "Y-You do?"

Theresa nodded. "The whole time yesterday, he wanted to be close to you and kept asking if you were okay. _And_ he stayed late just to be with you. And besides, I've been dropping _a lot_ of hints these past few months; if he wanted me, he would have said something by now."

"I think he is simply worried about me, considering everything that's happened to us. And I haven't exactly been subtle about my feelings either…"

"Well, don't try to ask him out yet. I could still be wrong."

Julian wondered, did he really have a chance with Randy? He sighed, "Romance is such an oppressing thing…"

Meanwhile, just a few lockers away, Howard was laughing uncontrollably at Randy's side of the story.

"Howard, it's not funny." Randy said, not amused by this reaction. "Like, at all."

"Oh, yes it is." Howard wiped a tear from his eye, struggling to force himself to stop laughing. " _Yes it is_. Like, I can't believe you actually did it."

"What was I supposed to do? Say no?"

"Uh, yeah. Obviously."

Randy rolled his eyes. "You're a jerk. You know that?"

"Oh, shut up. Like, you just caused yourself even more problems, Cunningham."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You _do_ know that Julian totally wants you to juice his cheese, right?"

The fact that his friend even considered saying that almost made Randy puke on the spot. "Ugh! Howard, don't say shnasty stuff like that. There's a pretty big difference between having a crush on someone and… _that_."

But Randy knew it was true. He knew Julian liked him; it was so obvious, even more obvious than Theresa liking him.

Howard snickered at him. "Yeah, well, now he's gonna think it's okay to keep asking for stuff like that. He's getting exactly what he wanted out of all this."

Randy's eyes widened at the shock of those words. "What…What did you just say?"

"Well, isn't it obvious? I mean, I'm not saying it didn't happen. I'm saying that you two are way overreacting about all of this. And now he's using this as an excuse to be close with you."

Randy clenched a fist. "Dude, he ended up in the hospital! Are you honkin' kidding me?! Nobody's overreacting! You have no idea how wonked up all this is!"

Howard narrowed his eyes, impatient. "You know what? After school. You, me, and Julian. Bathroom mirror. I want you two to show me this thing. Prove to me that this is all worth it."

"Howard, are you kidding?!" Randy practically screamed. "You're really gonna put him through it again for no reason?!"

"Oh, I have a reason! My reason is so that I can believe that _you_ have a reason to be hanging out with Lord Creepy! And really think about it, Cunningham; has Julian mentioned seeing this dude again _at all_ since this happened?"

Randy froze for a second and really thought about Howard just said. "No, he…He hasn't…" He wondered, maybe the white Julian was gone now? There was no way of telling…He sighed. "Okay, fine. Right after gym. Not because I think you're right; it's just because I…" his voice faded as he ran out of words to say.

Howard grinned with pride. "Oh, I'm right, Cunningham. You just don't wanna admit it because you're a stubborn shoob."

~XXX~

Throughout the day, Randy thought about what he and Howard had agreed on. All through his classes and even as he fought a Stanked Bucky, it had been the one thing on his mind. He wondered, did he make the right choice? Was it right that he was letting Howard put Julian in a situation that could potentially be dangerous?

… _Duh_ , of course not. It was a no brainer.

But could he convince Howard to back out?

"Hey, I was thinking," Randy said as they finished changing after gym class, "about that bathroom thing…"

"Oh no, Cunningham," Howard cut him off. "You're not changing my mind. We're doing this. In fact, we're doing it _right now_."

"But-" Before Randy could even get another word out, Howard was already walking straight toward Julian.

Randy watched with worry as Howard told Julian to come with him, grabbing him by the wrist and leading him on.

"Um, do you need something from me, Howard?" Julian asked, confused.

"Honk yeah, I do," Howard grumbled as they passed by Randy, whom he signaled to follow him. "C'mon, dude!"

"Howard, wait! This is really messed up!" Randy ran after them, suddenly becoming incredibly nervous.

He followed them all the way to the bathroom. As he entered the room, he pulled on the Ninja mask; he had a nagging feeling that this wasn't going to end well.

Howard and Julian were standing before a mirror, and they turned to look at Randy as he entered.

"Dude, what the juice?" Howard asked, annoyed. "What's with the Ninja mode?

"I…" Randy hesitated. "I just wanna be ready."

"Ready for what?" Julian asked nervously, beginning to tremble. "What's going on?"

Howard turned Julian to look right at the mirror. "Look at it. Do you see _him_? The other you or whatever?"

The goth's eyes went wide, immediately understanding. "N-No, but…"

"See? There you go. Nothing to worry about."

"N-No, I mean I don't see him right now, but…"

"Howard, this is just honkin' cruel," Randy stepped in. "Look, this mirror stuff is legit; I saw the thing myself. Stop torturing this poor guy and let's just go home already."

"Well, here we are now," Howard proclaimed. "And _he_ ain't here. So, in a nutshell, this has all been a gigantic waste of-"

He was cut off as the white Julian suddenly appeared in the mirror, lunging at them.

All three boys screamed in fright in reaction, especially as the "reflection" grabbed Julian by the arm and began to pull him in again.

"Oh, my God!" Randy gasped. It was less than a second before he grabbed onto the goth, determined to stop this from happening.

Howard stumbled backwards, left speechless, shocked, and terrified.

"No, no, no!" Julian screamed, black dyed tears streaming down his face as he tried to break free from his other self's tight grip. "Let me go! _Please_!"

"Resistance is futile," the reflection hissed. "Surrender to me!"

"Not on my watch!" Randy grunted. He pulled harder and got Julian freed from the white one's grip.

The goth immediately ran straight into the nearest stall, his hat falling to the floor. The sound of him crying started to echo through the bathroom.

Randy took out his sword and held it out fiercely, looking at the white Julian with pure hatred and anger. "Never touch him again…" he seethed, pure rage flaring in his sapphire eyes.

The reflection growled, fading away into the mirror.

Randy took off the mask, picking up the goth's hat as the Ninja suit undid itself. He and Howard immediately ran into the nearest stall. Julian was on the floor there, hugging his knees, bawling.

"Overreacting, huh?!" Randy yelled at his best friend.

Howard nodded frantically, shaking a little from the shock. "Okay, okay, you were right…Holy cheese, that was wonked up!"

Randy quickly sat down next to Julian and wrapped his arms around him, holding him closely. "Shh, Julian…Julian, I'm sorry…" He then pressed a light kiss to the goth's forehead, just beneath his bangs

He was surprised at himself. Did he just kiss Julian without being asked? Or really thinking about it at all? As if it were as natural and instinctive as breathing?

Howard gagged. "Shnasty!"

"Shut the Hell up, Howard!" Randy snapped, not bothering to restrain himself. "He's scared out of his mind! He needs me!"

"That doesn't mean you can be all weird with him!"

"What's so weird about a guy kissing another guy?!" That came out much harsher than Randy intended, but he didn't care. It was as if any desire to please Howard shut off right then.

Howard backed off, caught off guard by his friend's response. "Whoa, dude, calm down. I didn't mean it like-"

Julian whimpered, "Randall…"

Randy completely removed his focus from Howard, shifting his full attention on the goth in his arms. "Yeah, Julian? What is it?"

"What…What do I tell…Mother and Father?"

Howard scoffed, "Why would you tell your parents about this?"

Randy refused to dignify that remark with a response; considering what happened last time the goth didn't say anything about this to his parents, he almost wanted to slap Howard right then for saying that. But instead, he did his best to answer the goth's question. "Just…tell him you saw the guy who attacked you on your way home. And…he was gone before Howard and I could do any-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Howard interrupted. "I have enough Ninja crap I have to deal with. You are _not_ dragging me into this one, Cunningham. This is _your_ problem."

Randy glared at his so-called best friend. "Howard, you were dragged into this the second you found out I was the Ninja. You're literally the only other person that can know about any of this. You're the only person that help us get through this."

"You're the honkin' Ninja; why don't you actually do something without needing my help for once? Besides, why would you think I'd wanna put up with Julian?"

"Is that it?! Is that the only reason why?!" Randy let go of the goth and stood up, marching right up to Howard. "Just because you don't wanna deal with someone that you don't like?! And what do you mean _for once_? Yeah, you've been a big help with Ninja stuff, but _I'm_ the one who's been helping _you_ with everything since we were three!"

"You know what? You should've just mind wiped him! Then none of this would've had to happen!"

"Just making him forget won't fix anything! It happened again now, and it'll happen again later."

"That doesn't make it okay for you to start hanging out with him all the time! C'mon Cunningham, get your honkin' priorities straight for once!"

That was the breaking point. "You know what? Fine. We won't drag you into this. It won't make a difference. It's not like you care about any of this. After all, you're the one that always calls Julian a creep. You're the one that told me to ignore him and 'move on with my life.' You're the one that told me that you 'don't do serious.' Well, this is serious! So just go home and pretend this didn't even happen!"

Howard stared in utter shock, having trouble comprehending that Randy was even capable of being _this_ angry over something like this. He then scowled, and took off running out of the stall and out of the bathroom.

Once his "friend" was gone, Randy sat back down next to Julian and resumed holding him. It was a protective embrace, for the possibility of Stanking was strong now, yet it was also tender. As the goth sobbed into his chest, Randy instinctively held him tighter.

"Julian, calm down," he whispered, "You _need_ to calm down. Remember what I told you about the Sorcerer? I don't wanna have to fight you."

Julian heeded those words. He went silent for a moment before immediately resuming his bawling. He kept trying to force himself to stop crying, but he just couldn't do it. Randy realized he was going to need to do a lot more. He began to gently rock the goth while rubbing soothing circles into his back.

"Shh, it's okay…" he cooed, "I'm right here…It's gonna be okay…" He kissed the goth's deep blue hair, running a hand through it. It felt so soft between his fingers, just like he had imagined it would, and a part of him was grateful for this opportunity to touch it. But the rest of him was devoted to make this boy feel safe again, no matter what it took.

The crying began to soften as the minutes passed by. Randy continued to soothe him in any way he could, hushing him and whispering words of comfort to him. Every few minutes, he pressed light kisses to the goth's head without hesitation, without Howard around to judge him.

After nearly half an hour, Julian was finally fully calmed down.

Randy held him in silence for a while longer before finally speaking again. "How much did you hear?"

"All of it," the goth muttered, wiping his away his murky tears with his pale hand.

Randy went quiet. "I'm sorry… Don't let him get to you."

"No, no, Howard doesn't bother me," Julian sighed, resting his head on Randy's shoulder. "I just feel terrible about the impact I've had on your relationship with him. I'm just ruining everything for you with all of this…"

Randy went silent for a moment before sighing as well. "Yeah…I can't believe I said all that stuff to him. That was the most wonked up fight we've ever had, hands down. But it's not your fault, man." He took the goth's hand and gave it a light squeeze. "None of this is your fault. It's that _other_ you; he caused all this."

The two stayed like for the next several minutes, relishing in each other's company. Randy slowly stroked Julian's hand with his thumb, carefully listening to him breathe.

"Do you want me to talk to your parents for you?" he asked quietly.

The goth slowly shook his head. "It won't be easy, but I want to do this myself…Thank you, though…Thank you for all you've done for me…" He pressed a kiss to Randy's cheek.

Randy's heart skipped a beat when he felt Julian's soft lips against his skin.

He felt his face heat up, but he said nothing.

And even once they had gone their separate ways, after he walked Julian home, he couldn't help but feel yet another wave of all different emotions.

~XXX~

At dinner that night, despite hesitation, Julian told his parents that he and Randy saw the one who attacked him.

Both of his parents immediately started freaking out, as he was expecting. They started bombarding him with questions. "Are you alright?" "Did he try anything?" "Did you call the police?"

"It was nothing, I assure you," Julian insisted, doing his best to hide his guilt. "We simply saw him in passing; he didn't lay a hand on me. I was feeling uneasy, but Randall helped me feel better. We didn't call the police; we saw no reason to, as he was only minding his own business. Nobody got hurt; I am completely fine."

It hurt so much to lie, but he had to it. There was no way they would comprehend the truth.

"Well…Do you think you're still up to going to work tomorrow?" his father asked hesitantly. "We'll understand if you don't."

Julian nodded vigorously. "Yes, Father. I know I can do it."

His parents gave each other nervous looks before returning to their meal.

He didn't dare to tell them that this encounter was just as scary, if not more so, than the last. But this time, he was absolutely certain he didn't need to tell them anything like that. He had Randy now, the one who would help him get through all of these troubled times.

Unfortunately, that would only make his nearly lifelong crush on him even deeper…

He had always liked Randy. _Always_.

Everything about that boy was so enticing. He was attractive, with his luscious purple hair and shining sapphire eyes. Since he was always under Howard's influence, he sometimes came off as a bit of a jerk. But at heart, he was truly selfless, thoughtful, and sweet.

Julian liked him for all those reasons, and now these past events made his feelings grow stronger and stronger.

Randy was being so affectionate and kind to him. He loved the feeling of holding his warm hand and kissing his soft cheek. He always felt protected and taken care of when he was in his arms, as though nothing could harm him. It almost felt as though they were already in a relationship, though that wasn't the case…yet.

Julian wondered, should he ask Randy out? Were his parents and Theresa right? Did Randy really like him?

The goth brushed all of those thoughts aside.

He was starting to long for the times before now, when he was certain that Randy had no interest in him at all.

He was so unsure of everything now. Nothing seemed simple anymore…

~XXX~

Randy poked at the plate of spaghetti in front of him with his fork. He had only eaten a little bit of it.

"Sweetie, please eat your food," his mother pleaded. "I know you're sick of takeout, but it's better than nothing."

"At least it's not Chinese," his father added, pigging out on his three cheese lasagna.

Alma rolled her eyes in disgust before shifting her attention back to her son. "Randy, what's wrong? Did something happen today?"

Randy only shrugged. "Kind of…"

"Tell me what happened, honey. Please?" Alma asked.

"I'd tell her if I were you, man," Caleb said. "She's just gonna keep naggin' you if you don't."

Alma glared at her husband. "Well, excuse me for being worried."

Sighing, Randy set his fork down and "came clean." "Julian and I saw the guy. The guy from the attack."

His mother's eyes widened. "Did you call the cops? Please tell me you called the cops."

"No. He was gone before we could."

"Oh my _God_ ," Alma groaned, putting her face in her hands.

"Dude, y'know you can just give them his description and they'll find him," Caleb said.

Randy knew his parents must think he really screwed this up. He could tell by the fact that _his father_ of all people felt the need to tell him something like that.

But despite this, he wouldn't dare to let them know the truth. "You don't get it."

"Oh, _really_ ," Alma sneered, not even bothering to hold back her temper. "What don't we get, son? Please explain."

Randy shook his head. "You just can't know…" he murmured as he got up from his seat and started to head out.

"Randy! Come back here and finish your dinner!" his mother called.

"Not hungry," he called back as he went upstairs.

Alma let out a heavy sigh, rubbing her temples. "This whole thing is driving me mad…"

Both parents continued to eat their meals in silence, the atmosphere still heavy from the argument.

"So…now that he's not here…" Caleb eventually spoke up, a sly smile spreading across his face. "Maybe we can talk about-"

"No, Caleb," Alma snapped. "We're not buying that house. End of discussion."

"Oh, come on! It's got way more space and it's closer to both of the schools! You just don't wanna live next to the Weinermans."

"No. It's just that we don't _need_ to leave. And two teachers' salaries isn't enough to buy a new house, especially since _you're_ constantly on the verge of getting fired." She sighed. "And you know I love Mort and Sylvia, and Heidi's alright. It's just Howard that…Look, the Weinermans have nothing to do with it. When we have the money, I'll think about it. But for now, _we stay here_."

~XXX~

Randy was desperate to not think about what happened with Julian and Howard. He even tried doing his homework. He only managed to get through an Algebra worksheet, half of a Spanish worksheet, and the intro paragraph of a rough draft for an English essay before he couldn't focus on his work anymore.

The thoughts kept coming back. Howard's anger, Julian's cries, the evil Julian's cold blue eyes…It was too much to bear. He already knew he was going to have trouble sleeping tonight.

He then tried to play Grave Puncher, but all it did was bring back memories of playing with Howard.

Letting out a heavy sigh, he took out his cellphone and sent a text to Howard. "im sorry"

Ten minutes passed. No reply.

"i'll make it up to u"

Ten minutes passed. No reply.

"i'll take u 2 game hole + dinner" He waited a few seconds before adding, "i'll pay"

One minute. Howard sent his reply, "u always pay, shoob"

"i know"


	8. Connections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Randy and Julian are shoobs who don't realize what's going on between the two of them; things work out between Heidi and Theresa though.

"Hey Cunningham, can I say something about yesterday?" Howard asked with some hesitation.

"Sure, buddy. Go ahead," Randy replied, not looking away from the game he was playing.

The two friends were somewhat distant throughout the school day. They still sat together during classes, as well as lunch, but there was very little conversation between them until this moment.

Howard looked down at the floor. "What I said yesterday, about you being 'weird' with Julian, I…Look, you know I'm bad with words. I'm sorry if you took it the wrong way. I didn't think it's actually gross; I was just really shocked when you did that and I reacted without really thinking."

Randy smiled a little. "It's alright, Big H."

"But you gotta admit I had a point. Like, it's pretty wonked up that you're acting like that with him. It's not right."

Randy flinched a little. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, _you're straight_. You know he likes you, and you're being all lovey-dovey with him. You're basically teasing him with the idea that you two can actually be a thing, which is literally impossible. You get what I mean?"

Randy hesitated. "Y-Yeah, man. I get it. I'll tone it down with him." If he looked even the slightest bit guilty, he hoped Howard wouldn't notice.

"And once this whole thing is over, you can just stop hanging with him altogether."

"Well, I dunno about that…"

Howard scoffed, "You wanna keep hanging out with _Julian?_ Like, legit? Who are you and where's the real Cunningham?"

"Honk off. He…" Randy hesitated. "He's an okay guy."

"Yeah, an okay guy who's a total creep," Howard grumbled.

"Whatever, dude," Randy sighed as the game ended. "You ready for dinner?"

"Honk yeah I am," Howard replied with excitement. "Food Hole, here we come!"

"Actually…I was thinking we could try some place new. I heard about this one place that sounds pretty good…"

Howard raised a brow, somewhat suspicious. Then he shrugged and said, "Alright. Lead the way."

The night before, Randy had done a bit of research on Moonbeam to see what it was all about. He discovered that it was half-café and half-art studio. There were quite a few positive reviews, so he decided to give it a shot. Of course he couldn't mention any of this outright to Howard; not without him protesting, at least.

"Hey, you remember that Julian's parents own a place?" Randy asked Howard as they approached the place

"Yeah, yeah, I remember," Howard replied nonchalantly. "What was it called again? Moonlight? Moonstone?"

"Moonbeam."

"No, no, that wasn't it…"

"No, Howard, look!"

They both looked up at the sign on the pearl white, rectangular building before them.

"Oh, don't tell me we're eating here," Howard groaned.

"Shut up, man; I'm paying for it, I get to choose."

The two of them walked inside café side of the building, the bell by the door letting out a light chime.

The first thing that came into their view was Julian.

He was wearing black McSkinnies and a midnight blue t-shirt with the building's logo on it. His hair was tied back in a low ponytail.

He looked absolutely adorable.

Randy mentally brushed away that thought. ' _Don't think about him that way. Howard says it's impossible; if that's how he wants it to be, then let's keep it like that._ '

But it a surprise to see was who was sitting at the table he was at; Theresa and Heidi were sitting there

"What the juice?!" Howard said way too loudly. "You're going to dinner with her now?"

All three of them gasped and looked at them, and Randy instantly regretted coming here.

"What are you doing here?" Heidi snapped, sounding extremely nervous.

"This shoob dragged me here." Howard pointed at Randy accusingly. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Well, I _was_ having dinner with my friend. But now, we're getting away from _you_."

Heidi grabbed Theresa's hand and started to lead her to the door. The baton twirler gave a small wave to the goth as they were exiting.

The three boys were left standing alone in an awkward atmosphere. There were only a few other customers, and they didn't seemed to care too much about this.

"W-Well…" Julian stammered nervously, trying to smile. "Go ahead and place your orders at the counter. I'll be with you in a little while."

"Alright. Come on, Howard." Randy grabbed his friend by the arm and dragged him to the front counter.

After a brief look over the menu on the wall, the two boys both ordered grilled chicken sandwiches and sodas. It was something simple, but it was just to test the waters of this place. They were pay right there on the spot, and as usual, it all came out of Randy's pocket.

"This place is so boring," Howard grumbled, stirring his drink with his straw. "Why can't they have Bruce stuff like McFlubbuster's?"

"Howard, this place is literally the opposite of McFlubbuster's," Randy said sternly.

"Then why did you bring me here?!"

Randy was about to counter when Julian approached their table with the tray of their food. He set the plates down in front of them.

"Wow, that was pretty fast," Randy said.

Julian giggled. "Well, my father strives for the best service possible. I hope you enjoy."

Randy thanked Julian as he walked away. Howard just grumbled something incoherent.

Even if it was just a sandwich, it was absolutely delicious. The chicken was cooked to the utmost perfection, fresh and well seasoned. The veggies and condiments inside complimented it perfectly. The French fries on the side were crispy and had just the right amount of salt.

As they ate, the few other customers left, as did the other employees. Howard followed suit the second he finished his meal, barely saying a word to Randy.

Randy was left by himself, and was about to leave, before Julian and his father stepped out and came to his table.

"Hello, Randy," Darius said, smiling brightly. "Thank you so much for coming. I hope you enjoyed."

"I had a great time, sir," Randy replied, returning the smile. "I loved everything. I'll definitely becoming back."

Darius smiled wider. "I'm glad you enjoyed. In fact, I expect nothing less. You had our good luck charm." He gently ruffled his son's hair.

Julian's face flushed in embarrassment. "Father…"

Darius chuckled. "Why don't you and your friend sit down and chat for a while?"

The goth's eyes widened. "B-But I need to help you clean-"

"Jules, it's only your first day back. You still need to take it easy a little. Enjoy his company." Darius gave his son a wink before walking back to the kitchen.

Julian nervously waked him walk away before sitting down across from Randy, where Howard had sat before.

"I'm sorry about this…" he said hesitantly. "You don't need to stay for me. You can leave, if you wish."

"No, no, I don't mind," Randy said with a warm smile. "So your dad makes the food?"

Julian nodded. "He makes everything. Although he's now looking for a sous chef that can take over if he ever needs to take time off. My mother is currently looking for an assistant as well. After I ended up in the hospital, we're all stepping back from the business to some extent."

A shine of silver on the goth's wrist caught Randy's eye. It was a bracelet of small skull charms. He couldn't tell for sure, but they looked like they made of real silver.

"I like your bracelet," he said. "It suits you."

Julian smiled, his cheeks turning slightly pink. "Oh, thank you. An ex-boyfriend gave it to me about a year and a half ago. I haven't worn it in some time, but it is quite lovely, so I decided to give it another chance."

Randy's eyes widened. "Wait, an ex? I didn't know you had been with someone."

"Oh, I've actually had a few relationships. You wouldn't know any of my former partners; all of them happened at Prudentia."

Prudentia Preparatory was a private school at the outskirts of Norrisville. It was extremely hard to get in for both middle and high schoolers, and most of Norrisville's youth barely had a clue about what went on in there. It was well known for having students that got the best scores in standardized tests and did well in most completions, so much so that Norrisville's middle and high school's didn't even attempt to compete with it.

Randy remembered that Julian wasn't part of his seventh grade class. And he was gone for the first half of eighth grade as well, returning to Norrisville Middle School after winter break that year. At that point in time, Randy was purely focused on shoobing around with Howard, so he was barely aware of the goth's absence from his life. It was no surprise to him that Julian was able to get into a school like Prudentia, since he was smart and it was pretty obvious his family could afford tuition.

"So _that's_ where you were for all that time in middle school," he said. "Why did you leave anyway?"

The goth looked a bit reluctant, but he still spoke. "Socially, things hadn't been so well for me at that point. I didn't have many friends and the bullying was just dreadful. Some of my relatives suggested I that I should enter private school, where the environment was more controlled. So we took their advice. And, in a way, I enjoyed it there; people were kinder to me and I had a much easier time with my grades. But…"

"But…what?"

Julian sighed. "I also felt somewhat suppressed; I couldn't be myself. All of the other students acted so proper and… _normal_. I didn't feel comfortable expressing my interests and personality the same way I could at public school. I had no choice but to conform. By the end of the first semester of eighth grade, I couldn't bear it anymore. I confessed my unhappiness to my parents, and they let me go back to public school. I quickly reconnected with my old friends and even made some new ones, and things soon got better for me."

"What about your love life, though?"

"Honestly, I wasn't truly happy with any of my romantic relationships. I was happy with the attention, but I wasn't happy with _them_. In fact, I was the one who broke it off with them each time. None of those boys were sincerely attracted to me; they were mainly after my looks, and for the façade I put on. I haven't been in a relationship since my departure, due to my unpopular status at our school." The goth smiled a little. "But…I'm much happier being myself, even if I am single."

Randy smiled back. "Well, that's good to hear. You don't need to worry about those shoobs. People should date you for _you_. I know I would."

Julian did a double take, blushing. "What?"

Randy was frozen. Oh cheese, did he really just say that? He exaggerated his smile. "Oh, _wow_! Look at the time! Gotta go! See ya tomorrow!" Just like that, he dashed at the door as fast as he could.

Julian stared straight ahead. His face felt hot, his pale cheeks now bright red. He wasn't sure what to think at all.

~XXX~

The two girls walked down the sidewalk under the bright orange sky.

They were window shopping, eyeing everything they passed by. Heidi would occasionally comment on some of the items they saw. Theresa would nod in acknowledgement each time, as her mind was too full to say anything.

She had been paying close attention to the way Heidi was interacting with her. She noticed that she looked at her in a way her other friends had never looked at her. She noticed that she was getting more and more attention from her, how she was starting to hang out with her and not the more popular girls.

She also remembered how much Heidi was willing to open up to her on the day Julian went to the hospital, and how comfortable she seemed.

Heidi Weinerman was an illusion to grandeur to almost every freshmen, someone far beyond possible reach. The only ones who got so close were Howard, obviously, and now Theresa. And the baton twirler had no idea why.

"Hey, Heidi?" Theresa spoke up.

Heidi turned around. "What's up?"

"What do you see in me? Why do you wanna hang out with me so much?"

The redheaded junior laughed. "Why _not_? You're super sweet and fun to hang with and-" She cut herself off before anything more could come out.

"But…Why do wanna be with me more than with your friends? Why do you open up to me so much more? What is it about me?"

It was then that she realized that Heidi's cheerful smile had completely faded. Her blue eyes shown some kind of emotion, but it was hard to decipher the exact feeling.

The baton twirler looked at her with confusion and worry. "Heidi?"

What happened after that went by so quickly.

She felt Heidi's hands on her face. She felt their bodies against each other.

She felt their lips touch.

Theresa was shocked. She almost didn't want to accept that this was happening right now.

Her first kiss.

She dated a few guys during seventh and eighth grade, but she never felt ready for kissing during that time.

Though she was still attracted to them, she thought there would be no hope between her and a girl at this point. She had yet to find one that would reciprocate such feelings.

And above all of that, there was one more thing.

She had been saving her first kiss for Randy.

But now, she was overtaken by this new contact, she could barely remember Randy's name.

She let it happen. She had no idea what she was doing, so she let Heidi take charge. Considering her popularity, it was no secret that she had dated more than a few guys.

Heidi pulled away. Her face was red and her eyes were beginning to water.

Theresa looked deep into those eyes, putting the pieces together.

~XXX~

"Oh, Theresa! I'm so happy for you!"

Theresa smiled at those words coming from her phone. "Thanks, Julie."

"Have you told Juggo and David yet?"

"Yeah, and Debbie. Heidi said not to tell anyone else though; she's not fully out yet."

"Ah, I understand. Thank you for telling me." There was a trace of guilt in his voice, but Theresa didn't press it.

"Hey, guess what," she said excitedly. "To celebrate, we're all gonna watch _Starlight_ at my house tomorrow. Sounds good?"

"Oh, how delightful! I'll definitely be there."

"Awesome. I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay?"

"Yes. Thank you again, Theresa."

The baton twirler hung up the phone, grinning from ear to ear.

Little did the goth know that tomorrow's movie night would be much, much more than he thinks it will be.

~XXX~

"Hey, Randy!"

Randy flinched. He turned around and saw Theresa standing there, smiling brightly.

"T-Theresa!" he stammered, blushing a little. "You're here. At my locker. W-With me."

The baton twirler giggled a little. "The Klüb's having a movie night at my house tonight. Wanna come?"

Randy smiled reflexively. "Yeah, sure. I'd love to."

He was a bit surprised at himself. How did he manage to say yes with so little hesitation?

"Great! Here's my address." Theresa handed him a folded slip of paper. Her smile then faded. "Also…can you not bring Howard this time?"

Randy wasn't the least bit surprised that she was asking him this. "Trust me, I won't even try. He probably wouldn't want to come anyway."

Theresa smiled again. "Okay. Thank you so much for understanding." She began to walk away, giving him a wave. "I'll see you tonight."

"Alright." Randy waved back at her, and watched her figure disappear into the crowd of students in the hallway.

He then sighed. How was he going to tell Howard about this?

~XXX~

"Yo, dude, what's wrong? Got something on your mind?"

Randy looked up from his food and met Howard's gaze. He felt himself panic a little bit. He knew it was only a matter of time before he had to come clean about the invite he got yesterday.

Howard suddenly furrowed his brow. "This better not have something to do with Julian."

"No, it's not," Randy blurted out without control. "Um, I mean…It's about the whole Klüb. Theresa invited me over to her place for a movie night with them. And…she told me not to bring you."

"Oh."

"Yeah…Sorry, man."

"Oh, dude," Howard laughed. "I'm sorry for _you_. Like, if those weirdos are constantly inviting you to shoob around with them, you're at rock bottom. This is literally the worst thing that can happen to you right now. Just say no, man; tell them to leave you the honk alone."

Randy's eyes narrowed. "Uh, what if I _want_ to go?"

Howard stared at his friend with a look of disbelief. "Are…Are you serious, dude?"

"Well, yeah. I mean…They're pretty cool people. Not cool as in Bruce; cool as in they're really nice and stuff. And Julian-"

"Are you still kissing him and crap?" Howard interrupted. "Because if you are, I'm gonna go right over that creep and-"

"Howard! It's not like that!"

"Whatever, man. Have fun with your little Monster _Shoob_ friends."

"Howard, c'mon!" Randy exclaimed desperately. "I'm sorry. Look, I'm just doing this to help Julian get over this mirror stuff. I'll make it up to you."

Howard stared him in the eye, looking incredibly annoyed. He finally sighed. "All of your leftover Game Hole tokens. Hand them over."

"Deal."

" _And_ …"

Randy groaned, sliding his tater tots across the table.

Howard grinned. "Alight, we're good."


	9. Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It looks like things are heading in the right direction, but will it work out?

When Randy got to Theresa's house, he was met with an unexpected surprise.

What the honk was Heidi Weinerman doing here? Why was she with the Klüb? Why was she snuggling up next to Theresa as if they were…

 _Oh_.

"Brandy, if you tell Howard, your life is so over," Heidi had said fiercely after the situation had been explained.

Randy nodded obediently.

He and Theresa had never been especially close, so of course he wouldn't have known that she was pansexual. But he had known Heidi for his whole life and had no idea that she liked girls. Although, considering she still couldn't remember his name, he didn't really have a reason to know about her sexuality either. And if her family didn't even know yet, he _really_ had no right to know.

He was also a little disappointed, now that Theresa was taken. He never had a serious crush on her. He knew she liked him, and he liked her back somewhat. But he never pursued her, or at least not actively. The only thing stopping him was that he wasn't sure how he would be able to divide his time between being Howard's best friend and being someone's boyfriend. And of course the whole Ninja thing didn't make anything easier.

But he still could have asked her out at any time, and she definitely would have said yes.

Not anymore…

He decided to not stress about it for now. They looked happy with each other, and that's what mattered most.

On the flip side, Julian seemed surprised to see _him_. As soon as he walked in, his eyes widened and he blushed while the rest of the Klub had wide, eager smiles.

"Why didn't you tell me you invited him?" he asked Theresa in a hushed voice, though Randy could still hear him faintly.

"Just wanted to surprise you," Theresa replied, not trying to be discreet at all, giving him a wink.

Randy was confused, but he decided it was best not to say anything.

He sat down on the sofa between Julian and Debbie Kang, whom he wasn't surprised to see at all, since he knew she was friends with Theresa.

"So, what're we watching?" he asked.

The Klüb gave each other excited glances before Theresa held out the DVD box for Randy to see. On it was a young, depressed looking black haired girl in the arms of angry looking guy with obviously fake vampire fangs. Above them was the word "Starlight."

' _Oh no_ …' Randy thought to himself.

 _Starlight_ was a vampire romance trilogy that was ungodlily popular with thirteen year old girls and forty year old moms. The first two novels, _Starlight_ and _Moonlight_ , had already been adapted into films. The last book, _Sunlight_ , was split into two films for some reason, with the second part releasing on Valentine's Day.

Randy was a bit confused. He didn't doubt for a second the Klüb, or at least just Julian, would like the books. But he also knew that the movies that had come out so far were despised by critics and fans alike.

"So…you like this movie?" Randy asked cautiously.

The four Klüb members busted out laughter, making Randy and Heidi flinch.

"Oh, heavens no!" Julian giggled, struggling to remain composed.

"All this movie is good for is making fun of it for how horrible it is," Juggo said.

"And pointing out how much they messed up from the books," Dave added.

"But isn't it, like, okay for the movies to different?" Heidi asked.

"Yeah, but not to this degree," Theresa replied. "This movie is so different, it's basically its own thing altogether."

"It's awful," Debbie said flatly. "It's just really, really awful."

Randy took notice that Debbie Kang looked like she really didn't want to be here. He thought she was on good terms with the Klub; she and Theresa were very close, she was on the chess team with Julian, and he'd seen her talking to Dave and Juggo in the hallways on several occasions. It couldn't have been because of them; she wouldn't have even shown up if that was the case. She seemed pretty neutral towards Heidi as well.

So after the process of elimination, it was clear to Randy that she was like this only because _he_ was here.

As Theresa set up the DVD player, Randy began to really wonder; why would they invite him? He being here would put Heidi's secret in danger. The Klüb were really nice people, but were they willing to put so much at risk just to let him hang out with them? And why would they invite him without telling Julian?

The movie, as it turned out, was _hilariously_ bad in every conceivable way. The acting sporadically went from hammy to wooden every other minute. The special effects were mediocre at best. Brock Octane, that honking sellout, was playing a weirdo werewolf stalker. Everything just came off as shoddy and insincere, having no purpose other than cashing in on this popular franchise.

But then was the only decent moment in the entire movie. It was the moment when Stella told Edmund she still loved him, even if he was a vampire. They were standing in an open field, under a the stars on a crystal night, gazing for each other's eyes. It was the only time the actors seemed like they had any chemistry between them, and the only time any effort seemed to have been put into the movie at all.

Everyone was silent at that point.

Randy looked at Julian. The goth was sitting still, watching the screen intently, as though he were genuinely enjoying this moment.

Randy glanced at Heidi and Theresa. Theresa was resting her head on Heidi's shoulder, and they were holding hands. He couldn't help but imagine how amazing it would be if he could touch Julian like that.

Before he knew it, he seemed to lose control of his desires as he put an arm around Julian, pulling him closer. He didn't look him in the face, but he could feel him snuggle up closer to him. He could feel his warmth, and he couldn't help but get a little closer to him as well.

He then heard some giggles. He looked around at the others. The three other Klüb members were looking at each other with big, eager grins, as if they had succeeded at something. Heidi seemed confused by this, and Debbie looked like she just didn't care at all.

He took a brief glance at Julian's face. His cheeks flushed, he looked somewhat embarrassed. It was almost as if he really wanted to get out of this situation.

Randy took a moment to think about all this, and then it dawned on him.

The Klüb invited him here to get him to hook up with Julian. And right now, he was _really_ getting their hopes up.

Randy could feel his mind being consumed by panic. ' _Oh my God, what the honk am I doing? I can't let them think that I'm willing to do this…._ '

But neither one moved. They stayed like that for remainder of the time, completely silent, even when the others started making fun of the movie again.

Before Randy even knew it, it was already over.

"That was so much fun," Theresa said, a big grin on her face. "But now that it's over, I have to…take care of something in the kitchen!" She grabbed Heidi's hand and started to head towards there.

"Wait, what's happening?" Heidi asked, obviously completely lost.

"I'll explain in a minute," the baton twirler whispered to her girlfriend, as they went into the kitchen.

"We better go help them too!" Juggo piped him, following them with Dave.

Debbie remained for a bit longer. Randy looked at her, expecting her to leave. She looked at him right back, clearly irritated. She let out an agitated sigh and got up as well.

That just left him and Julian, alone together on Theresa's couch. The goth was looking down at the floor, clearly embarrassed.

Randy took the goth's warm hand into his own. He took a moment to appreciate the texture, soft as cream. "Did I ever tell you your hands are really honkin' nice?"

Julian tensed up, flustered. "N-No, but…thank you."

"What do you use?"

"Nothing, honestly. I suppose it's only natural."

Randy looked at them carefully. They were fragile and delicate. Not the same way Howard's were; they were just small and dainty. But Julian's hands - long, thin fingers, complimented by perfectly manicured nails coated in black polish - were a whole other story.

He didn't even try to stop himself from taking the hand and pressing a light kiss to it.

He had no reason to kiss him at all, as the goth wasn't in distress. But…he just had the urge…

Julian's blush deepened. "R-Randall…"

Randy instantly looked up at him at the sound of that utterly adorable voice. Howard had always said it was annoying, but Randy couldn't deny it that it was cute.

Julian's face was deep red, looking even more shy and nervous. "Why…Why do you treat me this way? Even though we're just friends…"

Randy was silent for a moment. He racked his brain for the best words, but all that could come out was, "I…I don't know."

It was also a big fat lie. Randy knew exactly why he treated Julian like this. But he had no idea why he was letting himself do it.

Then he realized the opportunity set before them. Everyone was out of the room; it was just the two of them now. They were sitting awfully close, and their gazes were locked.

It would be so easy to just lean in and _do it._

The goth's lips were right there; they were practically calling Randy's name.

He inched a tiny bit closer. He wanted this _so badly_.

Julian was frozen, his eyes wide and his cheeks deep red. Was this actually happening?

But then Randy pulled away.

He couldn't do this, as much as he wanted to. This was the point of no return, and he wasn't going to cross that boundary yet.

"I gotta go," he sighed, letting go of the hand and getting up from his seat. "Thanks for everything."

"Thank you for coming…" Julian replied meekly, looking down at the floor.

Before he knew it, he heard the front door slam shut.

He got up and locked it. . When he turned around and saw the others standing there, all looking at him with sad expressions. Even Debbie seemed disappointed by how things ended up.

Julian gave them all a weak smile. "I appreciate what you tried to do for me, but…it will never happen."

Outside, Randy walked home in solace. He felt like a shoob for leaving like this, but he felt like an even bigger shoob for almost letting all this get _that_ far.

Howard was right; there was absolutely no way he could keep being affectionate with Julian while still keeping the relationship platonic. Every passing day- no, every passing _second_ , he found himself more and more attracted to the goth.

' _It doesn't feel right…_ ' he thought at first. ' _…No, it_ does _feel right. But…I don't want it to…_ '

~XXX~

The days went by in a flash. Randy tried to avoid Julian at school, only interacting with him when it was absolutely vital. The phone didn't ring during any of those nights, and the goth seemed to be at least physically fine. But despite that, Randy wasn't sure how much longer he could tolerate living like this. Julian was the only thing he could ever think about. He fantasized about him to no end. He did all he could to hide it from his family, peers, and _especially_ Howard. Talking to Howard in general was harder now, considering he now had to keep Heidi's secret from him as well. It felt awful to keep secrets from him again; he couldn't keep being the Ninja from him, so how could he keep all _this_ from him?

Luckily, something happened at just the right time.

One of Howard's many cousins was getting married, and the wedding was far out of town. The Weinermans were leaving early Thursday morning, and they wouldn't be back until very late Friday night.

Randy needed a break; he just needed to take this time to figure out his feelings, perhaps indulge in them a little bit. And the time of Howard's absence was the best opportunity for it.

It was now about a week into February, and the snow was melting. The chill still had strong presence though, especially at dawn.

Randy arrived at the Weinermans' place early to say his goodbyes. Mort and Sylvia both hugged him before getting into the car, a typical ritual when the family went on trips. But he was quite surprised when Heidi hugged him as well. Normally she would have just walked right past him, not even acknowledging him. But now this was happening. She gave him an odd smile as well. Randy wondered, was she treating him like this now because he knew her secret?

Finally, Howard came out of the house. Instead of a hug, he gave Randy a fist bump. "Try not to miss me too much," he said somewhat jokingly as he got in the car.

Randy forced a laugh. "I'll try."

As soon as the family drove off, Randy dashed off the lawn. Before now, he would have been absolutely miserable without his best friend to help him face the school day. But today, he was excited. He could finally figure things out. He can finally feel comfortable with his feelings again.

He checked the time on his phone; he had a good chunk of time to spare.

He sprinted all the way to Julian's neighborhood. He didn't care what anyone thought if they saw him running like a maniac; he just wanted to get to that house.

When he arrived, he stepped right onto the porch and knocked on the door.

Margaret answered just a moment later, and she smiled when she saw him. "Oh, Randall! What a pleasant surprise."

Randy smiled back at her, actually feeling confident about seeing her. "Hi, Maggie. Just wanted to swing by and walk Julian to school."

"Oh, how thoughtful of you. Come in, make yourself comfortable." The woman shut the door as the boy entered.

Randy noticed that she had an accent. It was British, not too thick but still strong enough to make it clear that she wasn't from this country. He must have been too stressed to notice it when he came over last week. And it made sense for her to have it, as her son slipped into a much lighter accent at times. Howard had always said it was fake, but now Randy was now assured that it was authentic.

He finally had a chance to look around and to take in the scenery of the house. He took in the sight of the fine furniture; it wasn't especially fancy, but they were definitely elegant.

Margaret led him to the kitchen. "Julian is upstairs getting ready; he should be coming down soon. It's still quite early. Did you eat breakfast?"

Randy thought back to breakfast with his parents, when his father ate the last of the McFistios and his mother burnt his toast to an unfathomable degree.

"Nope," he replied promptly.

"Oh, my. I'm sure you are simply famished. Help yourself; I'll get you some tea as well."

"Oh no, ma'am, I couldn't-"

Then he looked at the pans on the stove, containing the nicest looking scrambled eggs he'd ever seen, along with some juicy looking bacon. A bowl of fresh fruit was nearby.

"Well, maybe just a little…" He grabbed a plate off the counter. He served himself some eggs, two pieces of bacon, and an apple.

He looked for a place to sit down. Nearby was what appeared to be a dining room, with an expensive looking table and set of chairs, and he was about to head towards it.

"Oh, just sit by the counter, dear," Margaret said when she saw him looking at it. "We only use that room for special events."

Randy nodded and headed over there, taking a seat on one of the stools. Margaret served him a cup of tea as he began eating.

After about another minute, Julian came downstairs. "Good morning, Mother," he greeted Margaret as he entered the kitchen. He froze in his tracks when he saw Randy in there.

Randy smiled at him and gave him a small wave. "Hey, Julian."

"R-Randall, what are you-"

"Oh, darling," Margaret took her son's hand into her own, beaming. "Randall came to walk to school with you. Isn't that lovely?"

The goth blushed deeply. "Oh, y-yes, I suppose it is…Thank you, Randall."

He served himself some food and tea and sat next to Randy. He shyly looked down at his plate the whole time, completely quiet. Randy thought it was absolutely adorable.

When they were both done, Julian asked, "Really though, why are you doing this? You don't need to…"

"Howard's out of town today," Randy replied, grinning. "There's nobody here to stop me for once."

The goth looked at him, shocked, but then he smiled a little.

They grabbed their book bags and Julian hugged his mother goodbye. The two boys were then out the door and walking down the sidewalk. The chill in the air didn't bother them, for they were warmed by each other's presence.

Randy entwined his fingers with Julian's with no hesitation, and he gave a light squeeze. Julian blushed again, but he also had a huge smile on his face. He looked really happy, and Randy was happy too.

~XXX~

It had been a good day. Randy was able to concentrate much better in class and during a Destanking. He ate lunch with Klüb, and he had a great time chatting and laughing with them. He had a great time when he was a temporary member a while back; he had wanted to keep sitting with them, but Howard said it was a bad idea. Considering what ended up happening that day, Randy went along with it. But now, he saw no reason to not be friends with these guys for real.

Right after school, he had to take care of some of McFist and Viceroy's robots. But once that was done, he went to Moonbeam. He sat down at a table and worked on his homework, or at least as much he could do. He couldn't even finish all of it; he was too distracted by Julian's mere presence. He watched him rush around the café and converse with customers with his adorable voice and polite tone. And of course he still looked irresistible with that ponytail.

Randy couldn't take it anymore.

He wanted to kiss him.

He had a small dinner, but after that, he still stuck around. Even as Julian and his parents began to close up shop, he still stayed. Eventually, Julian's parents went into the employee lounge, to give Randy and Julian "time to talk for a bit." They were smiling somewhat mischievously and eagerly.

Julian looked at him with a small smile, clearly embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Randall. You don't need to stay; you're free to leave."

"A-Actually, Julian, there's something I wanna ask you," Randy stammered.

He got up from the table and walked right to the goth; they were barely an inch apart.

Temptation was burning. He couldn't fight back the urge anymore. He had to do this today; there was no way he would get another chance.

"Do you think I can…I dunno, _kiss me_? Like, a real kiss?"

He needed to ask for it; he couldn't do it himself. He had no experience; it wouldn't feel as good if he was the one initiated it.

Julian's eyes lit up. His cheeks flushed a pale pink. "A… _real_ kiss? On the lips?" The look in his eyes and the way he spoke radiated pure innocence.

Randy nodded quickly and vigorously; he needed to get this done before he changed his mind.

The shade of Julian's cheeks deepened. "W-Well…It's been a long time, but…If this is what you want…" That was when he began to lean in closer.

Randy quickly shut his eyes. ' _Don't stress about it,_ ' he thought. ' _This is the last time you'll kiss him, or any boy. Just get it out of your system…_ '

Nothing could prepare him for what was about to happen.

When Julian's lips touched his, Randy felt as if a whole new world has opened up. He never knew what this kind of contact was like before; it was as if he hadn't lived his life at all until that moment. He felt all of his nervousness and worries vanish instantly as euphoria washed over him.

It was brief, chaste, and enchantingly sweet. And once they pulled apart, Randy couldn't help but want more.

He thought this would end it. No more of these feelings; he wanted them gone.

But the feelings were still there; they were stronger than ever now.

He grabbed Julian by the shoulders and pulled him into another kiss. This one lasted a little longer than the previous one. It was a bit more awkward as well, due to Randy's lack of experience. But even so, it was meant just as much as the last kiss.

Once he pulled away, Randy took a good look at Julian's face. His pale cheeks were flushed bright red. His sky blue eyes, wide with shock, were sparkling. His lips were slightly parted, clearly at a loss for words.

There was a lot Randy wanted to say, but he managed to compact it all into one sentence. "I…really, really like you, Julian."

"I like you too, Randall," the goth whispered, his voice shaking, though they both knew it didn't need to be said at this point.

They kissed once more, embracing each other without hesitation. Randy held Julian closely as Julian had his arms encircled around Randy's waist. They were full of warmth and happiness as they relished in this intimate contact.

Julian felt nothing but bliss. He felt as though he were in a dream. This was something he had imagined countless times since childhood. His parents and friends were right all along; Randy _did_ like him. And never before was he gladder to be proven wrong.

Randy, on the other hand, wasn't quite as elated.

Yes, he was happy to be in this moment. But even more than that, he still wanted more, more than this kissing. He wanted to share a bond with Julian, one in which they could engage in this contact as much as they wanted, without hesitation.

No.

_No._

_No, no, no, no, no._

This was _not_ happening. Not now, not ever. Not after working so hard to stop it from happening so many before.

He messed up. He really messed up.

He forcibly pulled away. "I can't do this…"

"Randall?"

Randy bolted without a goodbye.

He ran all the way home as fast as he could, his heart heavy and his mind overcast.

Julian stood alone, horribly confused. Why did Randy suddenly leave him after confessing his feelings? After kissing him? After all they have gone through together up until this point?

He suddenly felt as though someone was staring at him.

He turned around. His parents were standing by the door of the employee lounge. They must have seen at least enough to see what had just happened, and the sad look in their eyes confirmed it.

Julian looked down at the tiled floor, a lump forming in his throat and his eyes watering.

~XXX~

Randy went straight to his room when he got home. He dropped off his school bag there before heading straight back to the living room. He sat between his parents on the couch, watching TV. He could still feel the warmth in his cheeks, from the lingering sensations of the kiss, but also from his pure frustration at himself and his feelings

"What's with the red, Rand?" Caleb asked mischievously, a sly smile spread across his face.

Randy didn't answer. He tried to focus on the commercial on the screen.

"Randy, answer your father." his mother said sternly.

"I…" Randy really wasn't sure if he should really tell the truth. He decided to keep it vague; hopefully they wouldn't catch on to what really happened. "I had my first kiss."

"With Julian?!" his parents exclaimed nearly simultaneously.

Dang it.

"How did you…"

His mother rolled her eyes. "Sweetie, you were literally just with him. And our room's right nest to yours; we hear how you talk to him on the phone. It's been so obvious that you like him."

"So you two are a thing now?" his father asked.

"No!" Randy snapped. His father had always playfully teased him about things like this, and he was quite used to it, but this was going too far.

His mother looked appalled by this reaction, but his father was unfazed.

"It sure seems like it," he laughed. "I mean, it looks like you really care about him. And honkin' you _kissed_ him."

"It…didn't exactly happen that way…"

"A kiss happened either way, dude."

"Look," Randy said, trying his best to sound firm. "All I wanted to do was to get it out my system. It's done and it's over. So can we please ever talk about this ever again?

No reply.

Silence fell; the only sound was from the TV.

Another minute passed before his mother suddenly hit the mute button on the remote.

"Randy, have you told Howard yet?" she asked.

"…No."

His father sighed. He actually sounded up upset by that response. "Bud, it's been three and a half years since we've found out. When're you gonna tell him already?"

Randy shrugged. "I don't need to tell him. As long as I don't date any guys, he doesn't need to know."

"Randall Cunningham, how many times do I have to tell you?!" his mother snapped. "You can't force yourself to suppress these feelings. It isn't healthy!"

Randy looked at his father, hoping for him to back him up. This happened to be the one subject in which that never happened, but it was worth a shot.

"Well…" his father began, looking a bit nervous. "Your mom's right, Rand. You can't change it, even if you try. It's who you are."

Randy almost cringed at those words. "I'm not trying to _change_ it; I'm just trying to _ignore_ it."

"It doesn't matter!" his mother yelled. "If you like a boy, then you like a boy. It's what your body and mind wants, no matter how much you deny it. We've been over this a hundred times, Randy. There's no need to be ashamed in it!"

"I'm not ashamed. I just…don't want Howard to think that I…"

His mother was steaming. "Son, if you're _that_ worried about what Howard is gonna think, there's something seriously wrong with your 'friendship.'" She did the "air quotes" gesture as she sarcastically sneered the word "friendship."

"Allie, _not now_ ," his father said abruptly, sounding surprisingly serious.

"No, Caleb," Alma snapped. "This needs to be addressed."

"I know, but we're talking about Randy right now. We're not talking about Howard."

"This wouldn't even be a problem if it weren't for Howard!"

Randy was seething as his parents kept arguing about Howard. He didn't understand why his parents didn't like his best friend, but he didn't really care either; it was something he grew to accept over the years. As long as they were allowed to hang out, he really didn't care what his parents had to say. But right now they were crossing into a territory he still hadn't been able to adapt to.

"You've given him too many chances!"

"For Randy's sake! C'mon, Allie!"

"Do you realize that almost every problem in Randy's life can basically be traced directly back to Howard?"

"Well…I mean, _yeah_ , but-"

"Just forget it, Caleb. You know damn well that I'm right. Howard is-"

"Don't you dare say it. Not while Randy's-"

"No! It needs to be said and Randy needs to hear it! That manipulative, ungrateful _brat_ is the sole reason why our son is so insecure about his sexuality and-"

" _Shut up_!" Randy shouted. He got up from the couch and dashed upstairs. He didn't care about the consequences for this action; he just wanted to be away from his parents. They didn't get it; they didn't know how he felt. They were never going to understand what he had to go through every day, no matter how hard they tried.

"Randall!" his mother shrieked. "Come back here this instant, young man!"

"Let him go, Allie." her husband said softly.

The room fell silent. The two parents remained on the couch, staring at the still muted television. After a few minutes, Alma put her face in her hands and began to weep.

Caleb put an arm around his wife and smiled a little. He sighed. "We're never gonna get better at this."


	10. Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Randy does something he should have at the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final complete chapter for now. Chapter 11 will come in January without fail.

_It was second grade._

_After an episode of a TV show in which the boy characters made a list of the top ten most attractive people in their class, Randy and Howard decided to mimic them._

_During lunch, they took out some paper and started making out their list. Randy noticed that all off Howard's suggestions for the list were girls, but he didn't question it._

_Then Randy earnestly said that Julian should be number one._

_Howard laughed, thinking that he was joking. "Good one, Cunningham. He really does look like a girl, doesn't he?"_

_Randy played along, hiding confusion._

_Why did Howard treat it like a joke? Was it because Julian was a boy? But it didn't matter that he was a boy. Anyone could be attractive; their gender didn't have anything to do with it. Or at least, that was how seven year old Randy viewed the matter._

_But the he thought about it, and realized he rarely saw couples that were people of the same gender. He'd seen them in real life before. His aunt, his father's sister, lived with another woman as if they were married. And he'd seen men with men and women with women together in town on occasion. But that was about it; he never saw it on TV, movies, video games, comics, or books. In all of those things, it had always been a boy and girl together._

_But why?_

~XXX~

It was only months later when he heard the word "gay" for the first time, overhearing some fifth graders joking around.

He started looking things up online over the next few years. He taught himself as much as he could about romantic and sexual orientation.

He didn't tell his parents anything. Though he knew they accepted his lesbian aunts, he couldn't help but feel somewhat nervous that they wouldn't accept him. He found so many stories about people getting rejected and abandoned by their families and friends for their sexuality, and it deeply scared him.

By sixth grade, he was absolutely certain that, just like Theresa, he was pansexual.

He came out to his family as such three and a half years ago. He was fully accepted, and he was grateful for that every day.

But he didn't tell anyone else.

Sometimes Randy worried about what his peers would think of him, but not nearly as much as what Howard would think of him. Not once did he confide in him about any of this.

He knew Howard wasn't homophobic. But regardless, he didn't want him to think of him any differently.

They were lifelong best friends. There was a dynamic between them that was essentially gospel. Randy knew his sexuality was going to throw it off loop and potentially ruin everything. He could already imagine Howard being even less affectionate than he already was and saying "no homo" constantly. Perhaps he would jump to the conclusion that Randy had a crush on him and start distancing himself more and more, until the friendship was totally dissolved. And then Randy would be alone…

Those were the reasons why Randy didn't say anything earlier, but now he had a whole new dilemma.

Randy barely gave himself time to mess around with romance. But when he did, his mindset was that if he kept his focus on girls exclusively, Howard wouldn't need to know anything. He did end up liking a few guys over the years, but he successfully kept it hidden from his friend and managed to talk himself out of all of it, much to his parents' dismay.

He found himself liking Julian more than any other guy.

It had never been a super serious crush; Randy only happened to think he was cute and nice. Luckily, the goth's quirks made it rather easy to talk himself out of any attraction time and time again.

But ever since this whole mirror thing started, Randy found himself caring about Julian more and more. He was all he could think about and he wanted to be around him as much as possible. Not to mention that he had now gotten to know him a lot better, despite the fact they had known each other for quite some time.

Even if he were to be totally accepting of Randy's sexuality and nothing changed, would Howard be okay about these feelings for Julian? He was barely okay with the fact they were hanging out so much; this would really make him flip his lid.

Randy knew there was no way he could pull it off a relationship with the goth without Howard knowing. There would know way he could hide it for very long; if he couldn't even keep the secret of being the Ninja from Howard for two days, then there wasn't much of a chance of this secret lasting much longer.

Randy hated these conflicting feelings. He wanted to be with Julian, but he also wanted to please Howard. Why did he have to like Julian? He didn't want to like him; it just sort of _happened_ , and now he didn't know what to do.

He thought about asking Nomicon for advice, but he already knew the answer would be something along the lines of "love is a distraction the Ninja shouldn't deal with," or something like that.

Randy got into bed, even though it wasn't even six thirty yet. He was still in his clothes and his homework was unfinished, but he didn't care. He pulled the covers over his head, hiding himself and his feelings from the rest of the world.

~XXX~

He couldn't sleep.

He tossed and turned in his bunk for nearly an hour, his mind overflowing with unwanted thoughts.

He kept thinking about it being Julian's boyfriend. Just the concept in itself was something that made him swoon. He wanted it _so badly_.

But he didn't want to want it…Did that even make sense?

He just wanted these desires to just disappear. He wanted things to be easy. He wanted all of this to be brushed under the rug like it was nothing.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a noise from below.

Nomicon was buzzing.

Randy sighed as he climbed down from his bunk and retrieved the book from his school bag.

"I don't care what it is," he said as he opened it. "Just give me an answer…"

~XXX~

_When Randy opened his eyes within the Nomicon, he found himself trapped._

_He was in a cage made of tall, thick stalks of bamboo. The cage was by the edge of a crystal lake beneath a night sky. The clear water reflected the image of the moon and the fireflies that flickered as they hovered above the surface._

_"_ _Nomicon, I really need your help," Randy said aloud, looking up at the cage's ceiling. "So I…I like Julian. Like,_ really _like him. But I'm scared to tell Howard. I've never had the guts to tell him I'm pan, and either way, I know he's not gonna like the idea of me being with Julian. I…I really have no idea what I should do. I know what I_ want _to do, but I can't let myself do it. You're my last resort, Nomicon; just tell me what to do."_

_Suddenly, the fireflies all grouped together and rose. Randy watched them assemble into the words of the proverb Nomicon wanted to convey to him._

"He who cages himself will never be free."

Free.

_Free to do what he wanted. Free to love who he wanted. Free to be himself._

_Randy wanted to be with Julian. Right now, that's what he wanted more than anything else in the world. And if he didn't fulfil that desire, he was only going to remain trapped in this cycle of oppressing himself and hiding this humongous secret from Howard._

_"_ _So…" he said, "I'm never gonna feel better about this unless…I do what I actually wanna do."_

_The fireflies seemed to glow even brighter as the door of the cage instantly swung open.._

_Randy smiled a little._

_For once, he and Nomicon were on the same page._

~XXX~

As soon as Randy came back to reality, he immediately felt much better. He didn't feel totally resolved, but he at least knew what he had to do.

He had _a lot_ to do. He needed to settle everything with Julian. He needed to apologize to his parents for snapping at them. He needed to tell Howard the truth…

Well, nobody said he had to do it all at once. He couldn't let himself get overwhelmed; he needed to take this one step at a time.

He took his phone out of his jean pocket and walked over to his beanbag chair. He sat down and made himself comfortable as he scrolled through his contacts.

He stopped at Julian's name.

He needed to do this right now; there was no way he could go to school and face the goth if he didn't. And there was no way he could skip school unless he absolutely had to, considering the fact he was the Ninja.

He could feel the nerves telling him to change his mind as he heard the ringing from the phone, but there was no way he can cave in at this point.

"Randall?" Julian's voice sounded weak, as if he had been crying before now.

Randy took a deep breath. "Julian, I…I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have run away like that. I like you, I really meant it. You mean so much to me. I wanna be with you so badly. But…Howard…"

Julian sighed. "He doesn't want you to date me, I'm assuming?"

"I don't want to tell Howard I…I'm pan," Randy forced out, his voice shaking. "I just…I know he's not a homophobe or anything like that, but…We've been best friends our whole lives. He's _always_ thought that I was straight. I'm scared that he'll look at me differently if he knows that I'm not. He won't see me as the same person anymore…"

"Randall, dear," the goth hushed him gently, "please calm down. It's okay, I understand."

Randy's heart fluttered when he heard Julian called him dear. He felt his cheeks suddenly heat up a bit. He could feel the affection in the word, like a soft caress.

They both went silent for a few moments.

"Are you still there, Randall?"

"Y-Yeah, yeah."

"So…"

"So…does this mean we can…You know…"

"Be a couple? Absolutely. And you don't have to tell Howard until you're ready."

Randy let out a heavy, relieved sigh, smiling as he sunk into the beanbag. "Thank you…I'm so happy we can finally do this. I wish you were right next to me right now."

Julian giggled adorably on the other end of the line. "I feel the same way. I want to be at your side again, the first chance I get."

"Well, I'll walk you to school tomorrow for sure. And we need to go on a date, ASAP. Maybe you can come to my house tomorrow night; you can show me the rest of those _Starlight_ movies."

"That sounds lovely."

"So it's a date?"

"It's a date."

~XXX~

Randy descended down the stairs.

He knew his parents weren't going to be happy with him. They had every right to be upset.

He reached the bottom of the stairs and walked into the living room. His parents were still on the couch, watching the muted television screen. He stood between them and the silent screen and faced them.

Neither of them looked him in the eye. His mother had traces of dried tears on her cheeks.

Randy took a deep breath. "I…I'm sorry about the way I acted. I shouldn't have yelled like that."

They didn't say anything in reply, but they at least made eye contact with him. It was the bare minimum of acknowledgement of what he was saying.

Randy smiled somewhat shyly. "I just got off the phone with Julian. He's coming over tomorrow. For a date."

That really got their attention. Their eyes widened instantly, and excited grins slowly spread across their faces.

"So… _now_ you're a thing?" his father asked.

He shrugged. "Guess you can say that."

"Oh, Randy!" his mother cried out, beaming.

She sprung off of the couch and sprinted to her son as quick as lightening. She hugged him as tightly as she could, kissing his forehead.

"Hey, make some room!" his father exclaimed, dashing to his wife and son, embracing them both.

Randy sighed with content. For the first time since he was little, he was glad to be given a little too much attention by his dorky parents.

He still wasn't ready to tell Howard, nor did he know when he would be. But he was taking the baby steps, and for now, he was happy.

~XXX~

Randy hesitantly approached the large, elegant, house. What was about to unfold was something he had been trying to picture in his mind all through last night and this morning. He was excited, but also somewhat nervous. He was about to walk with Julian not as a protector, not as a friend, but as a _boyfriend_.

Randy took a single step onto the lawn, the grass hiding under a slushy layer of melting snow. He barely had a chance to take another step before the front door swung open. He barely had a chance to blink before he saw Julian dash towards him, beaming.

"Randall!" he squealed, his sky colored eyes sparkling. Every part of him seemed to glow with happiness, absolutely radiant.

Randy instantly smiled and opened his arms, letting Julian run into his embrace, nearly knocking him over. He heard the goth's beloved hat fall to the ground. He felt his lips against his cheek, and that was enough to make him feel like he was about to melt into a lovesick puddle.

They pulled apart and locked gazes. Randy cupped Julian's face in his hands; Julian kept his arms locked around Randy's waist. Their foreheads pressed together, their cheeks were flushed cherry red, and their smiles were as wide as can be. Joyful tears brimmed in their blue eyes. They stood there for the world to see, unashamed and completely confident in their feelings for each other for the first time.

"I'm not dreaming, am I?" Julian asked, his voice soft as the snow.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing," Randy replied before pecking his boyfriend's lips.


	11. Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Randy and Julian's first date!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter of this that's actually new. It's on FF.net as well.

Heidi looked around the banquet hall as the wedding reception went into full swing. The room was filled with aunts, uncles, and cousins. Despite the flashiness of the place, she found herself to be rather bored. There wasn't anybody here that she was particularly close with.

Her parents were mingling with their relatives and in-laws. Howard sat near her, playing on his McFistPad.

She scrolled through various apps on her phone, waiting impatiently for something to happen or someone to message to her. She doubted her "friends" would be missing her right now.

Then her phone buzzed as two back to back texts came in from Theresa. She sighed and smiled; at least her girlfriend missed her.

Both messages were in all caps. The first one excitedly stated that Randy and Julian finally got together. The next one boldly and clearly stated, "DON'T TELL HOWARD."

Heidi glanced at her brother, who was completely immersed in whatever game he was playing on his device.

She sighed; she really hoped they would all be able to hide these secrets from him. She then smiled as she typed out her reply to Theresa, asking her to congratulate the new couple for her.

~XXX~

Randy felt himself blush as he felt Julian nuzzle his against neck. They were sitting close together on the beanbag chair, with almost no space between them.

They were about halfway through the third of the _Starlight_ movies, _Sunlight Part 1_. The second movie, _Moonlight_ , had been just as hilariously cheesy as its predecessor. But this one was so unbearably boring, it was almost painful. It was clear the plot was stretched out as much as possible in order to make two more movies.

Randy was completely uninterested in the plot, and it seemed Julian was feeling the same. He wasn't even looking at the screen anymore. He looked up at Randy with his big blue eyes.

"Randall?" he said quietly.

Randy flinched as he made eye contact with his new boyfriend. "Yeah?"

"This movie is dreadfully dull, and it won't get any better. Do you want to talk?"

"Talk? Y-Yeah, sure, we can talk." Even though they were more than two hours into the date, Randy was still feeling a little jittery. He was comfortable around Julian, but he was a bit nervous about potentially messing something up. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well," "I can't help but ask, what is it about me that made you pursue a romantic relationship? I seriously doubt it's because of these recent events alone."

Randy shifted a little in his seat, hoping to be able to put his exact thoughts into words. "Well, I…I've kind of liked you for a long time. I just didn't want to admit it to myself. You're just so pretty and cute and sweet and…I'm just so into you."

The goth blushed a little. "I'm quite surprised to hear that from you. I've always been under the impression that you thought I was weird."

"I do. But weird can be cool."

Julian giggled adorably at that, snuggling closer to his boyfriend.

Randy grinned, holding him closer and kissing his forehead. "Okay, your turn. Why do you like me?"

Julian looked at his the most adoring, innocent gaze. "Oh, where do I even begin? You're so handsome and kind and fun to be around. The privilege to interact with you is so rare, I've always treasured every moment with you. You're just so amazing in every way."

Randy chuckled. "Howard will tell you otherwise."

All of a sudden, Julian's entire demeanor changed. He looked at Randy with a dead serious expression.

"Randall, I need to make something very clear," he said, his tone the sternest Randy had ever heard. "Howard is always wrong about you. He will tell you over and over again that you're a bad friend or a shoob or _whatever_ ; that's never true. You are absolutely wonderful. I've always thought so. Please don't let Howard get you down anymore."

Randy couldn't comprehend any of that at all. Why would Howard say all that stuff all the time if it weren't true?

Julian then kissed him deeply, sending them both backward and sinking into the beanbag. Randy was immediately alarmed; he felt so much love and compassion in this single gesture, more than he had ever felt in his whole life. It was a unique feeling, and he wanted to feel it forever.

When they pulled away, Julian's face was completely red and his eyes were glassy.

"I care about you so much, Randall," he whispered.

Randy was breathless, "I…I care about you too."

Within seconds, they were kissing again, as loving and passionate before. And when it ended, they kissed again. They engaged in the contact more times they could count. By the time they were finally done, the movie had ended and was on the main menu. They spent the next several minutes just lying there in silence, simply holding each other.

Then Julian's phone buzzed; his parents were waiting for him outside.

"You don't want me to walk you home?" Randy asked.

"I'd love that, but I'm afraid it's too dark for that now." Julian sighed.

"We probably won't be able to be together much for the next few days; Howard will probably want me to make up for lost time."

"I understand. You will be free on Valentine's, right?"

"I'll try to be." They agreed earlier that their next date would be Valentine's, which was a whole week away. They'd watch _Sunlight Part 2_ together at the theater, if Randy could think of an excuse that would preoccupy Howard and nothing Ninja related comes up.

They headed downstairs together so Randy could see the goth off. At the porch, they shared one more kiss before Julian went to his parents' car. Randy stood there and watched it drive off into the night. He sighed, wishing he could still be with his boyfriend. He went back inside the house and headed to the living room couch where his parents sat.

His mother was grading papers, her eyes racing through numbers on the pages as she punched buttons on a calculator, only stopping to write the student's score. His father was next to her, focusing on the TV as he drank a bottle of soda. They both looked halted themselves when they saw their son enter the room.

"How did it go?" his mother asked, concern in her voice.

Randy shrugged. "Pretty good. We had a lot of fun."

"How do you feel?" his father asked.

He thought hard about that question. He thought about the warmth he felt when Julian was near, and how amazing it felt to hold him close and kiss him. He smiled. "I don't think I've ever been this happy before."

His parents smiled back. Now that their son was finally making his own choices and not scrambling for Howard's approval, they were pretty happy themselves.

~XXX~

It was the day after the date, and Randy was in a hurry to get to Howard's house. Even though they were apart rather briefly, the two friends were eager to see each other again. They were extremely unused to being separated for even that long, and now they were determined to spend the whole day together.

They played through Grave Puncher games through most of the day, eventually taking a snack break. However, it was then that the atmosphere changed completely.

"So, what did you do while I was gone?" Howard asked. There was a hint of accusation in his tone.

Randy was immediately alarmed; Howard never cared about something like that unless he was suspicious of something. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I know you probably hung out with Julian. Even though I told you not to."

Randy sighed. He could at least admit to that much; he didn't have to say it was a date, thank God. "Okay, yeah. I did. Sorry."

"What did you do?" Howard's tone sounded scornful.

"He came to my house and we watched some movies. You wouldn't have wanted to be there, I promise."

"Was there any kissing?"

"No." Randy's answer was fast and short. He didn't hesitate; he knew Howard would flip his shit if he knew there was more seemingly romantic affection.

But Howard huffed a disappointed sigh. "You're a bad liar, Cunningham."

"Hey, you didn't say I couldn't hang with him while you were gone!" Randy exclaimed defensively.

"I didn't think I had to. You shouldn't be hanging out with him in the first place." Howard picked up his controller and unpaused the game. The subject wasn't approached again for the rest of the day.

Randy felt his spirits sink. His friend was getting suspicious.

He couldn't hide for much longer.


	12. Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Randy and Julian go out for Valentine's! And then things get sad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY VALENTIGGLES

Every moment that passed through Sunday to Thursday felt like an eternity.

Randy had to keep his distance from Julian and the Klüb as much as possible. He occasionally got a chance to give them a wave or a smile when crossing paths with them in the halls, but that was as far he could go without alerting Howard. And even then, those small moments of acknowledgement was enough to warrant a dirty look from him.

Randy hated the experience; he just wanted a chance to hang out with his boyfriend again. He didn't understand why being with Howard was something he'd have to dread during this time, as it had been a few times before.

Did that mean they have a bad friendship?

No. No, it couldn't have. Howard was his best friend; it had always been that way. It must be normal to feel like this every now and then.

Finally, the fourteenth landed on the Friday of the week. Valentine's was here, and the school had rather a mixed reaction.

Heidi had a line of boys outside her studio giving her flowers and chocolates, trying to gain her affection. Little did they know that she wasn't interested in them, and that she was already taken.

The Klüb stayed close together through the day as they gave cards to the few friends they had outside the group. Their cards were all homemade, dark purple hearts with personalized messages on them. Of course, once they were all passed out, Julian and Theresa had cards they were saving for some very important people.

Randy and Howard had only gotten a pink card and a piece of chocolate from Rachel, who gave something to everyone. A few teachers gave their students some treats as well. Howard wouldn't receive anything else from anyone that day, but Randy still had more to come.

At lunch, both Randy and Heidi waited for the precise moment Howard left the cafeteria to answer nature's call. Heidi was thankful that she didn't have to worry about the people she typically hung out with, as they were all mingling with their boyfriends. The two rushed to the Klüb's table to see their respective significant others. There they finally exchanged cards, talked a little, and shared a few kisses. After that, they returned to their normal lives, their secrets secure.

Or so they thought.

What they didn't know was that Howard emerged sooner than they predicted. He watched it all happen by the cafeteria entrance.

He saw Randy and Julian kissing.

He saw Heidi and Theresa kissing.

Randy returned to the excuse of having a quick shloomp into the Nomicon. Howard knew it wasn't true, but didn't say anything about. He wasn't sure _what_ to say.

What he _was_ sure of was that if he got confirmation of what he suspected was going on, then Randy was going to be dead meat.

~XXX~

Howard had a plan.

After school, he asked Randy is he wanted to spend the rest of the day at the Game Hole, one of the few places in town that wasn't decked out in Valentine grossness.

If Randy said anything other than yes, that would mean something was up. He should be free today; it was Friday, after all. And he didn't have anyone to spend the holiday with, right?

But Randy did say no. He claimed his mother was making him stay home so he can study for a math test.

Their next math test wasn't for another two weeks; the class wasn't even done covering all of the material yet.

Howard knew right then that Randy was lying.

And so it was time to put his plan into action. When dusk had fallen, he walked into the living room. Heidi was down on the couch, texting away on her phone. A wide, lovesick smile was spread on her face. She had been like this for the last several days. Howard hadn't really cared before, but now that he knew who she was texting, this was extremely important to him.

He got near her and looked over her shoulder. "Who're you talking to?"

Heidi instantly jerked away from him. "Honk off, Double Dip."

Howard had no intention to give up. He grabbed the phone and started pulling it out of his sister's grip. Heidi held on tightly, determined to defend her secret, but she could only hold on for so long. He soon knocked the phone to the floor. They both dived down to grab it, but Howard got it first and immediately started pouring over it.

The texts were all romantic and cutesy. And the name of the contact was…

Howard grinned. " _Teasey-Feasey_ …"

"Howard. Please," Heidi said, steaming with fury. "Do not tell a soul. Not even Mom and Dad. _I will end you_."

Her brother scoffed. "Please, you know they won't have a problem with this. Now, your fans on the other hand…"

"Exactly. Keep this between us, _please_."

"Now, wait a minute," Howard said. "You're dating Fowler, and Fowler's friends with Julian. And Julian and Cunningham have been pretty close lately. And Cunningham's been acting pretty off today. He told me his mom was making him study tonight, but I know he was lying."

Heidi tensed up. "Why do you think I'd know where he is?"

"Because I saw you all shoobing around at lunch today. You and Cunningham are falling for the biggest shoobs in town. Just being friends with them is bad enough; but dating them?"

"Julian and Candy aren't dating!" Heidi yelled.

Howard shook his head. "You still can't even get his name right. You barely give a crap about him, so you'll have nothing to lose if you told me where he is. And do you think I'm _that_ dumb? I know when Cunningham is lying and when he's doing something I don't want him to."

Heidi began trembling. She turned away. "Just give me my phone back. I'm not telling you anything. Just please leave us alone."

"What if I take a few screenshots of these texts and send them to all your bitchy friends? They're gonna know what you really are- a _dyke_. They'll spread the word faster than we can think, and then you're gonna lose every bit of popularity you worked so hard to get. That's what's gonna happen if you don't tell me where Cunningham is _right now_."

The girl was silent for a moment. She turned to face him again, her eyes filled with tears. "He…He and Julian went to see the new _Starlight_ movie; the five o'clock showing. And then they're going to Julian's house."

Howard smirked. "Wow, that was easier than I thought. You really told me the secret your little girlfriend and her friends wanted you to keep over something so dumb. You're so honkin' shallow, sis." He looked at the digital clock on the cable box; it was a few minutes past seven. "The movie's probably almost over. I'll just go ahead and meet them at the house."

He returned the phone to his sister, and a few minutes later, he was out the door. Heidi sat back down on the couch, crying into a pillow as she held it close.

~XXX~

The date had been absolutely amazing.

Randy and Julian had been laughing the entire time; the movie been the most hilariously bad yet. On their way home, they debated on which part was the funniest, holding each other's hands tightly.

As they approached Julian's house, Randy realized something; he never had this much when he went to a movie with Howard. In fact, he hadn't had this much fun when he went anywhere with Howard. He was usually more focused on keeping Howard pleased and, as of late, any Ninja-related incidents that could happen instead of actually enjoying himself. It was different when he was with Julian. Of course he could never put the whole Ninja thing completely aside, but the goth was much easier to please than Howard. He was happy as long as he was with Randy, and that made Randy happy too.

They were ready to relax together for a bit, just sit down and talk over homemade hot chocolate and heart shaped cookies. Maybe if there was time to spare, they could snuggle in Julian's bed and-

All of those thoughts were cast aside when Margaret opened the front door of the house. She was trembling as she looked at the two boys. Her eyeliner was running, indicating that she had been crying before.

"W-W-We have a g-guest…" she said, so soft and meek she was hardly audible. "A r-rather loud one at that…"

Julian just gave her a silent nod and led a confused Randy inside.

"Is she okay?" he whispered.

"For the most part, yes," the goth replied. "My mother is…fragile, in some regards. She gets rather nervous when it comes to meeting new people under unexpected circumstances."

"Really? She wasn't really like that when I-" Before the subject could be further explored, they both saw who the guest was.

Howard.

He was on the sofa, his feet propped up on the coffee table. The furniture was very expensive, but he didn't seem to care. He was eating the last of the cookies, which had been made specifically for the new couple. He glared at them as they entered the room.

Julian flinched when he saw him, but Randy completely tensed up. He was paralyzed in fear; he was caught red handed.

Darius emerged from the kitchen. He looked nervous as well, but not nearly to the same degree as his wife. "Hello, boys. I hope you had fun. This… _gentleman_ has come to discuss something with Randy."

"I sure as honk do." Howard got up from the couch, wiping crumbs off himself and letting them fall to the rug.

Julian apprehensively went to his father and asked him, "How long has he been here?"

"About ten minutes," Darius sighed. "We tried to make him leave but he screamed at us so much, he nearly gave your mother a panic attack. You were right about how loud he is."

Margaret rushed to her family's side, taking her son's hand and practically hiding behind him like a small child. Julian didn't mind that; he'd seen his mother this afraid before and knew she needed comfort, even if the thing she was scared of was an angry fourteen year old.

Randy and Howard stood before each other, looking into each other's eyes. The tension in the room was high.

"How did you find out?" Randy ask, his voice shaking.

"I blackmailed my sister," Howard replied simply.

"How did you know she'd know-"

"I saw you all shoobing around at lunch with your stupid little Valentines. I'm not blind, Cunningham. And I'm not dumb either; I know what you've been up to. I know you and Julian have been juicing each other's-"

"Okay, we're not doing _that_!" Randy exclaimed. "But yeah, we're dating! I'm not straight, I'm pan! I've known for years and…and I was too scared to tell you. I'm really sorry."

It was out. The secret he had kept from his best friend from so long was finally off his chest. And suddenly, he felt relieved. A big weight was off his shoulders, and it felt pretty good.

But then he saw Howard's reaction. First there was a hard slug to the arm. Then he spoke, "You know, Cunningham, I expected better from you. First of all, there's no such thing as pan. You're bi; they're literally the exact same thing. Second, screw you for hiding that from me. Third, Julian? _Julian_ of all honking people? Do you seriously want him? Just look at him! What do you even see in him?!"

Randy was shaking as he looked at his boyfriend, who looked extremely worried, as did his parents.

"I…" Randy said, "I see someone beautiful. Someone I really care about."

Howard made an exaggerated gagging sound. "Well, I just see a creep! You being friends with the Klüb is bad enough. Dating the worst one out of them is even worse. And keeping it a secret from me? Your best friend? Honk off, Cunningham. You're the shittiest friend anyone could ever have."

Randy stayed silent.

Howard then turned to Julian. "Hey, I know I give you a lot of crap for being a weirdo but I gotta say, even _you're_ too good for this shoob over here."

Julian was ready to counter, but Howard strolled out of the house before he could. He didn't say a word, leaving behind a mess and a crushed spirit.

Randy was still shaking as he blinked back tears. Julian gently led him to the couch, sitting next to him and taking his hand.

"We'll leave you two alone," Darius said, walking towards the stairs, his still petrified wife hesitantly following him. "The hot chocolate is on the stove."

The goth gave his parents a nod as the headed upstairs. He went to the kitchen and brought back two steaming hot mugs. He took of a light sip of his own drink as he set Randy's on the coffee table. Randy didn't touch his; he looked down at the floor, tears falling down each time he blinked.

"I must say," Julian said, setting his cup down after a long silence, "if anyone from the Klüb or I were in Howard's position, we would not have reacted that way at all. I suppose I can understand his frustration towards having a secret kept from him for so long. But all of that…that was just repulsive."

"But he was right," Randy muttered.

Julian turned to him. "No, he wasn't."

"Yes, he was. You're too honkin' good for me and I'm the biggest shoob ever for hiding something like that from my best friend. I…I'm just the worst."

"No, you're not. Howard just wants you to feel-"

"Howard's my best friend. He wouldn't say any of those things if it weren't true."

"Randall, _please_." Julian cupped Randy's face in his hands, making him look at him. "Believe me, nothing Howard said was true. It's his own fault you hid it from him; you would have told him if he hadn't instilled the fear in you. And from that reaction, it's clear that hiding it was the right choice. He only wants to make you feel bad."

Randy's sapphire eyes were flooding with tears. He shook his head as they cascaded down his cheeks. "No. He's right about everything. I-"

Julian cut him off but pulling him into a tight embrace. Randy tried to pry himself out, but Julian held his ground, softly hushing him.

Randy fidgeted for a bit before finally giving in. He sobbed into his boyfriend's shoulder, overwhelmed with guilt and self-loathing. Julian held him close and whispered comforting words to him, showing him more compassion than Howard ever had.

~XXX~

When Howard came home, his parents and sister were all on the couch. Heidi was sobbing into a pillow as her parents comforted her. She came out to them at last, but that wasn't why she was upset. Mort and Sylvia were fine with their daughter identifying as a lesbian. They were _not_ fine, however, with their son blackmailing her and forcing her to betray her new girlfriend and friends.

"Howie," Mort said, his tone disappointed and saddened, "how could you do such a thing?"

Howard shrugged. "She was keeping Cunningham's secret. And if there's one thing I'm not okay with, it's Cunningham keeping secrets." He then headed to the basement without another word.

His parents said nothing. They were used to Howard's unbreakable apathy towards the rest of the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howard is The Worst™.  
> And no, Randy. Dreading being around a friend is not normal. Don’t worry, though; I didn’t realize that until literally months after I finished high school.  
> Also just to be clear, this story takes place in 2014. That was the last time Valentine’s was on a Friday.  
> 


End file.
